


Cupid's Arrows Part Two

by Phoenixofslytherin



Series: Cupid's Arrows [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Contests, Cupid - Freeform, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Fun and Games, Hopefully a bit funny!, Marauders, Other, Party Games, Smut, Some Humor, Tags are added as needed, Unexpected feelings, blind dates, secret competition
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:28:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28339248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenixofslytherin/pseuds/Phoenixofslytherin
Summary: A secret game is played every year at Hogwarts... it starts at Halloween and finishes at New Year, these are the rules. 1) One Slytherin is paired with one Gryffindor, 2) The couple are not allowed to have dated before, 3) All participants must be of age, 4) All participants will need a very open mind.....This story is a direct continuation of my original Cupid's Arrows story, which started as a response to a drabble prompt from a Facebook group. I posted the original drabble to their collection and gained their permission to continue it on, but the story is getting too long for me to continue adding to their page now. I hope it's easy to for people to follow the links between this part of the story and the original. If you are a new reader, please read the original Cupid's Arrows first, as this part will make no sense at all on it's own!!
Relationships: Cho Chang/Seamus Finnigan, Ginny Weasley/Blaise Zabini, Hannah Abbott/Gregory Goyle, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott, Lavender Brown/Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood/Parvati Patil, Pansy Parkinson/Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley/Millicent Bulstrode, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Cupid's Arrows [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075313
Comments: 30
Kudos: 85





	1. A Very Interesting History....

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks go to Draco's Den Facebook group for this initial prompt, and for allowing me to continue this mad story! :-)
> 
> Yaaaay!!! I managed to get this chapter out on time!!!! It’s taken a while but I’m getting straightened out with my writing now, so posting is back to how it should be. Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos (AO3) and the reviews (fanfiction.net) on the last chapter, I love hearing from readers and it means so much to me that people are enjoying the story. I have plans to write some little drabbles around some of the other pairings and link them to this main story too, so if anyone has a pairing they would like to see more of, pop it in the comments and I will see what I can do!
> 
> Thank you times a million to champagneandliterature my wonderful alpha/beta…. You really do make a huge difference to my writing so a lot of the credit for this story must go to you too. 
> 
> So without further ado…… Happy Boxing Day, and here’s a new chapter!!!

“Come on ‘Mione, Friday night is now girl’s night, it’s written in the rules of the game!” Ginny plucked Hermione’s quill from her hand, replaced the cap on her bottle of ink and grinned. “You enjoyed last Saturday didn’t you? And, from what I heard from Ron, Theo Nott was in your dorms for a mighty long time the other night.... So you can’t say you’re not embracing the game in other ways.”

Despite her determination to study, Hermione had to concede that Ginny did have a point. She had spent most of her six years at Hogwarts studying diligently and trying to keep Harry and Ron alive, and then the following two years fighting, and subsequently recovering from fighting Voldemort. None of that time had been particularly conducive to having fun and being a teenager. Maybe this particular assignment could wait for one more day. “Okay.”

“What?!” Hermione laughed at Ginny’s flabbergasted look. “You're not even going to argue a little bit?”

“Not tonight.” Hermione rolled up her parchment and stuffed her books back into her bag before following Ginny out of the library and back to their dorms. After a quick freshen up she was ready to make her way to the room of requirement for the eight pm meeting. 

  
The room had split itself into two separate halves with a soundproof barrier between the newly created spaces. “Nice, look at this!” Pansy bounced in and stared at the drinks trolley in the middle of what was clearly the girls side of the room. There were several bottles of elf made prosecco, a bottle of firewhiskey, several different muggle spirits, a book on cocktail mixing and a note in multicoloured, shimmering writing all set out on a table. “ _ This week’s theme was relationship building and getting to know one another _ .” Pansy read. “ _ Over the course of this evening you must learn one secret about each other participant. The disclosure of any secrets given to you in confidence will disqualify you from the game and  _ _ exclude you from all further activities _ . Wow! No telling our secrets then girls!” Pansy put the parchment down and picked up the cocktail recipe book.

Hermione wrinkled her nose apprehensively and perched on the edge of a squishy sofa next to Luna and Parvarti as Ginny joined Pansy to investigate the drinks. “Ooooh,” Daphne said, peering over their shoulders, “Let’s start with that one. Look, it glows in the dark if you add this charm!”

The little room was crowded with them all inside. Three large sofas were arranged in a horseshoe shape with the drinks trolley on the fourth side, and Hermione guessed that the boys had a similar arrangement next door. Cho was sitting awkwardly next to Lavender and Hannah, neither of whom she knew very well, and Millicent was sitting alone on the third sofa. No one was saying much. Although all of them got on relatively well these days, none of them were particularly close yet, and things were currently rather strained between them all. 

That was until Pansy stepped in of course. “Here, Daph, start handing these out will you please?” she passed a pair of glasses to Daphne who in turn handed them out around the room. 

“Thank you,” Hermione eyed the lurid green concoction suspiciously as Ginny held her glass aloft. “Cheers!” Ginny grinned before taking a sip. “Wow, that tastes better than it looks!” Hermione sniffed hers. It was fluorescent green and when Pansy turned the lights off, it actually did glow in the dark. She put her nose to the glass and sniffed. It smelled fruity, and when she sipped it, it fizzed pleasantly on her tongue before dispersing easily and tasting worryingly non alcoholic. Knowing Ginny as she did, Hermione suspected it was in fact the exact opposite. 

Her suspicions were confirmed an hour and a half later when Daphne passed her the third experimental cocktail of the night. This one was bright red and tasted strongly of strawberries. By now Hermione was feeling decidedly tipsy. Tipsy enough to join in the rather lively game of truth or dare that Pansy and Ginny, who were clearly the groups unofficial leaders, had started.

“‘Mione?” Ginny asked as the third round of questioning came back to her. 

She groaned inwardly. Her first two questions had been relatively harmless but this time she was facing Ginny, and the twinkle in her best friend’s eye suggested that it wasn’t going to be so easy this time. “Who is the better kisser, Draco or Theo?”

“I’m not going to compare them!” Hemrione squeaked, but her indigent squeal was met with giggles. 

“Draco!” Pansy shrieked.

“Theo,” Daphne answered as though she thought it was obvious.

“Draco.” Luna said with a serene smile causing the whole room to turn and goggle at her, “Although that may be an unfair call because Theo has only ever kissed my cheek.”

“Very definitely Theo,” Lavender said and Hermione felt her jaw drop. Had they both snogged everyone in the room? “And you haven’t answered the question Hermione.”

“And I’m not going to!” truthfully she was already feeling too much affection for the pair of them to compare one against the other.

“You’re blushing!” Ginny said. “Oh well, if you really won’t spill the beans then take a drink.” 

She did, then posed her own question as the game moved on. “Hannah.”

“Truth please,”

“What’s Greg really like?”

To Hermione’s amazement Hannah smiled softly. Her eyes took on a dreamy quality and she looked genuinely happy, “Surprising,” she said slowly. “Misunderstood. Romantic.”

“Did you know he can play the guitar?” Millie asked, tucking her leg up underneath her. “He’s brilliant at it. Once he got over being a little shit with Draco he actually turned into a really nice guy.”

“He really is.” Hannah nodded with a smile and moved the questioning on.

Hermione zoned out briefly as the game continued. This was more fun than she had anticipated and she was starting to wonder just how much of this sort of thing she had missed out on over the years. Cho was being very quiet and was looking reflective too, Hermione had been watching her and couldn’t work out if she was just shy, or if she didn’t really want to be involved in the whole evening. Lavender was trying to include her in the conversations but Cho was doing little to join in on her own. “Pansy,” Millie’s next question, startled Hermione back to the present moment. “What happened?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, I think you do. You seem to be disqualified. You too Daph. Spill it girls!”

Pansy grinned wickedly. “Shall we call it a case of partner switching? Neville’s nice and all but he’s far too calm and settled for me. He’d lay down and let me walk all over him and that’s not right. I need someone with a bit more….. drama, a bit more bite. Harry’s got a temper and a half and he’s hot as fuck. I’ll never forget how he stared You Know Who in the eye and just held his nerve,” she shivered and grinned wickedly. 

“Neville is nice,” Daphne said smiling, “I’m liking the chance to get to know him. I don’t rush into things easily, but, we’ll see. Have you kissed Harry yet Pans?”

“Have we kiss- Yes! You know we have Daph. And, oh my Gods was it amazing! Ginny what the hell did you dump him for? Seriously, I can’t believe you let him go!”

Ginny laughed then shook her long hair back into place. “He’s a good kisser I’ll grant you, but I spent most of my childhood pining over him and well, now I want to play the field a bit, experiment, be irresponsible and a proper teenager, you know?”

“And so you picked Blaise. Go on tell us more, what’s he like?” Lavender asked and they pulled the sofas closer together as the chatting and drinking suddenly became more intimate.

Another hour, and another purple cocktail later, and the piece of parchment with the aim of the evening written on was behaving very strangely. Not only was it flashing in an eye popping manner, it had now started to emit an irritating high pitched wail. Cho, who had refused any more alcohol after her second cocktail picked it up. “I think we need to tell each other a secret.”

“Ooooooh!” Millie squealed, let’s start. “Parvati. You go first.”

Parvarti gulped and stared at Luna looking stricken. Luna picked up their clasped hands and smiled in encouragement. “I haven’t officially told my family or even my sister that I’m gay. I know Padma knows, but I haven’t said it out loud to her yet, and I’m scared of what my parents will say.” This was met with such a chorus of support and encouragement that unexpected tears sprang to Hermione’s eyes. Maybe there was something to be said for having a large group of supportive girlfriends after all.

“I’ve told my father,” Luna said, “and he was very happy for me. But, I also do quite like boys as well. And since you’ve said you’re happy to experiment I’d say that my secret is that I’d like to do that at some point.” Parvati blushed deeply and Luna looked at her in apparent confusion, “You do blush a lot Parvati, if I say something that makes you uncomfortable, you can tell me you know.” Parvati merely nodded, and Hermione thought it was a mark of the growing friendships in the room that no one commented on Luna’s closing statement. 

Hannah cleared her throat, “My secret is that I’ve not really had a proper boyfriend before. And I’d really like my first one to be Greg. I want to kiss him. But I’m not sure if he wants to kiss me.”

“He does!” Pansy asserted. “Believe me, he does. Just grab him and do it!!!” This instruction was met with another chorus of agreement and approval and Hannah looked positively glowing as she nodded.

“My secret is that I don’t think Dean is the one for me.” Lavender said, “I mean, I’ll try and all that, because I think this game is really fun, but I’m not sure we’re right for each other.” Her statement was met with supportive murmurs and all heads turned to Millie.

“I really like Ron,” she confessed, turning a deep shade of red. “I never thought I would, but actually, he’s very funny, very thoughtful and he’s treating me like a princess. I  want to stay in the game and to stay with him for a bit longer to see what happens between us.”

Next in line was Pansy, but she shook her head, “Nope, me and Daph are out. We don’t have to contribute but if you want my secret anyway, I’m aiming to get into Potter’s pants this weekend.” This outrageous statement was met with shrieks of laughter and Ginny started a five minute discussion on the best way of doing just that. Hermione couldn’t help but be intrigued, although she also suddenly understood Ginny’s intense distaste for talking about any of her brother’s sex lives. Harry had always felt like a brother to her and there had never been anything remotely sexual between them. It was odd imagining him with Pansy, and even odder hearing her discuss this side of him with Ginny.

“Uh huh,” Daphne shook her head when it was her turn, “I’m also out but I do promise not to tell any of yours. Ginny?”

Ginny grinned. “Blaise is the best sex I ever had.” 

Pansy burst out laughing, “compared with who?”

“Ummm…. The other people that I have slept with.” Ginny flicked back her hair and started at Pansy with an air of drunken defiance.

“Which would be who?” Pansy tucked her own immaculate bob behind her ear and grinned. Clearly she wasn’t going to let Ginny off the hook that easily.

“Umm, well, Harry… Dean and-” There was a very pregnant pause in which Ginny blushed beet red, “Michael Corner.”

“Aaaaaand?” Pansy made a hurry up motion with her hand as Ginny covered her face with her hands and mumbled something no one could quite make out.

“I’m sorry, we didn’t catch that.” Pansy said and laughed at Ginny’s glare.

“You’re a meddlesome witch Pansy Parkinson. You know full well I’m trying not to mention Draco Malfoy.” There was a collective gasp from the room at large and Ginny sighed. “It was in my sixth year and things were a little umm, tricky here weren’t they? It just kind of happened and that’s all I’m going to say for now!”

All eyes turned to Hermione and Cho as they were the only ones yet to tell a secret. “I’ll say one,” Cho offered, “but it’s not really a sexual one so you might be a bit disappointed. I think Seamus is very nice, but I’m not sure this game is right for me. It feels a bit pressured and although you are all very lovely, I’m just not sure how long I’m going to continue playing it for.” 

Polite nods met her confession and there were general supportive murmurs from everyone. Given Cho’s reluctance to join in throughout the evening it was hardly a surprise that she felt this way. “Hermione?!” Ginny said, bringing the focus back onto her. 

Hermione sighed, she’d known that she wouldn’t be able to avoid the spotlight forever, “I’m really surprised by how much I like both of my partners,” she smiled and there was a chorus of whistles and Ginny clapped excitedly. “I thought I’d hate them both, but I really don’t.”

“Exactly how much do you not hate them Hermione?” Lavender asked with a grin, “Only there was a very definite muffliato charm cast around your bed two nights ago.”

Hermione blushed. “That was Theo, and all we did was kiss. Oh, and he gave me a very nice massage. I’m not rushing things, I’ve never, and I want it to be, and oh good grief, that’s enough information!”

“Wait…. You’ve never?” Daphne asked, “As in, you haven’t?” Hermione shook her head. “Oh Wow, you are lucky. I’d have my first time with either of those two, but both of them together, Merlin! You're a lucky girl!”

And the conversation that followed that little revelation was the reason that Hermione ended up flooing into Grimmauld with a hangover for the second weekend in a row. 

  
  


* * *

“For fuck’s sake!” Sirius exclaimed, “I mean it, much more of this and I’ll start charging you lot for breakfast and hangover potions. Oh, and first aid advice.”

“Hmph. We love you too, Mr grumpy pants.” Ginny muttered, taking two vials of hangover potion from the vastly depleted stock in the cupboard and passing one to Hermione. “You need to make some more of this by the look of things. Did you get out of the wrong side of bed this morning?”

“I would still be in bed if you lot didn't keep waking me up.” he sighed and rubbed a hand over the shadow of stubble on his face. “We didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“And why was that?” Ginny fixed him with a grin and he rolled his eyes. 

“Unfortunately not for the reason you're thinking. Teddy has a fever and he had us both up for most of the night, Remus is still with him right now, which leaves me in charge of breakfast.”

“Oh dear God!” Ginny took the pan he was wielding and put it on the stove herself before turning to hunt for something to put in it. 

“What did you mean by first aid advice?” Hermione asked, noticing Harry, Ron, Neville, and bizarrely, Seamus all sitting at the table as her hangover potion started to kick in.

“I wouldn’t ask if I were you.” Sirius said with an amused shake of his head. 

“Are you all alright?” Hermione ignored him as Ginny tipped sausages into the pan. She pulled out a chair and analyzed the boys as a child’s cry sounded from upstairs.

“We are now,” Seamus said. He looked rather bruised across one side of his face and his left arm was in a sling. 

“We ended up in a rather impromptu and drunken game of four on four quidditch at midnight last night, Sea here had the unfortunate experience of crashing headlong into Greg.” Ron explained.

Seamus grimaced “He barely has a bruise, I fell off and plummeted twenty feet to the ground. It’s a damn good thing Blaise was so quick with the slow falling charm. I didn’t really want to go to Madam Pomfrey and explain what we’d been up to-”

“And this,” Ginny gestured to the table at large, “is the reason why women live longer than men. Why do you have a black eye Harry?”

“Collided with Malfoy’s elbow in a race to the snitch. He still plays dirty as hell.”

“How did you even see it in the dark?” Ginny asked as Hermione’s eyes widened.

“Glow in the dark charm,” Harry said as if it was obvious.

“Who got the snitch?” Hermione wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Please, ‘Mione. I did!”

“Well done. Yes, I don’t think explaining all of that to the teachers would have gone down too well,” Hermione said as Sirius muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “That’s my boy.”

“I think you’ll find the teachers know about the game.” Remus said walking into the kitchen carrying a fretful Teddy who was clinging to his chest for all he was worth. 

“You were a teacher and you knew about the game because you helped make it, Moony, not all of them will-”

Remus waved his argument away. “I’d put money on them all knowing. Snape played don’t forget. He can’t have been the only one who’s had a go over the years.”

“Wait a sec,” Harry took the ice bag he was holding to the side of his head off, turned it over and reapplied it, “Snape played? Severus Snape, Potions Master of doom and all around hater of things Marauder. You’re telling me that Snape played this game?” Hermione stopped rummaging in the cupboards and turned to stare incredulously at Sirius too.

“Yeah, of course he did. He was hoping to pair up with your Mum, Harry. It was funny because he didn’t, and we all know where that one ended up don’t we?”

“Actually no.” Harry squared his shoulders, “you’ve told me many stories over the years, but not this one.”

“Ah.” Sirius said, exchanging a look with Remus. “Yes. Well, maybe that’s because telling it involves a slight confession on my part, but I suppose we should tell you what happened since you’re playing it yourselves now. Hello buddy,” Sirius sat down as Teddy detached himself from Remus and climbed into Sirius’s lap, still fussing fretfully. “Snape paired with Neville’s mum actually, they went out in the second week though so they didn’t last long.”

“So, did my Mum and Dad pair together then?” Harry sounded quite hesitant as Neville spluttered into his tea and Remus passed him a tissue. Ginny dropped a hand onto Harry’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly and he turned instinctively to nuzzle against her.

“Not exactly,” Sirius said with a sigh. “Your mum initially refused to play if she got paired with James. It was her one condition. She paired with Remus though, and I paired with Marlene Mckinnon. Your dad paired with Mary Macdonald.”

“Soooo, what happened?” Hermione rushed to flip the sausages that Ginny had forgotten in favor of supporting Harry. Ron took over buttering the bread as the smell of burning started to fill the kitchen and Remus waved it lazily away with his wand. 

“Well, as you know cheating on your partner is an instant disqualification. Your dad went out in week one. He and Mary didn’t see eye to eye at all, and one night Mary, uh, kissed somebody else. “Sirius looked shiftily around the kitchen over the top of Teddy's head. “Your dad stayed around to help me out as Cupid, and that’s when Lily started to talk to him and give him the time of day. Lily figured that he had been treated rather unfairly and that he hadn’t deserved to go out so early, and not in that way because it wasn’t his fault. Off you go buddy. Daddy’s got the medicine now. You’ll feel better when you’ve taken it.” Sirius set Teddy back onto his feet and the toddler immediately held his arms up for Remus to pick him up.

“Not take!” Teddy protested glaring at the potions in Remus’s hands. 

“Come on little guy,” Ginny said with a smile, “will you take it for me?”

Teddy said nothing but let Ginny take the potion vial as she followed Remus out of the room. 

“Who did Mary Macdonald kiss?” Harry was staring suspiciously at Sirius as Sirius turned his back on the table to help Ron, flicking his shaggy hair out of his face as he went. 

“What’s that now?”

“You heard.”

“Ah well, the thing here is that it all ended well didn’t it?”

“Sirius! It was you, wasn’t it?” 

Sirius grimaced as he turned, gesturing wildly with the spatula, “Look. I was in a quandary. I was questioning my own sexuality at the time and trying to prove to myself that I liked girls. Things, well, things happened. Your parents both forgave me, in fact they credited me for helping them get together because it put them into a situation where they had to talk to one another sensibly. So when all was said and done it was a helpful thing to do. And the following week you’re mum and Remus forfeited, and that’s how myself and Re got together.”

“How?” Ron said blanky, “how does Remus and Lily forfeiting put you and Remus together? and James and Lily?”

Sirius sighed, “well, although James wasn’t cross that I’d kissed Mary, he was pissed off that Snape had technically beaten him in a game that was romance based. I told him I’d make it up to him and he dared me to kiss Remus as a forfeit. So, I did. And the fact that it turned into a full on snogging and groping session caused Lily and James to back out of the room giggling and giving each other a high five. They raided my firewhisky stash to celebrate and got pissed and ended up together that very night. 

“So there’s hope for you and Pansy then H,” Ron said, tipping sausages onto plates and handing them out, “and myself and Millie are doing very nicely together. And, unlike some people, you and I stayed on our brooms last night so it’s all looking good for us so far.”

“Don’t forget Pads, kissing wasn’t all that you, Mary, and Marlene got up to that night was it?” Remus teased as he popped back to pick up the stuffed owl that Teddy had left behind, “which is why you three weren’t disqualified as well,” he patted Sirius affectionately and Sirius turned to catch his arm. “In fact it was Sirius kissing me that ensured we were all booted out. How long was it before Mary and Marlene spoke to you again Siri?”

As it always did when those two touched, the atmosphere in the room had abruptly changed. Suddenly it felt charged with sexual chemistry as they held each other's hands and their gazes heated. “They forgave me pretty quickly. You could have joined us anytime you liked that first night you know,” Sirius said, raking his eyes possessively up and down Remus’s body. Hermione sucked in a tiny affected breath at the way they looked at each other, even after all of these years. If she could achieve half of the passion and intensity that Sirius and Remus managed to maintain in her own relationships, she would be happy.”

Remus stared down at their joined hands and flicked glowing amber eyes back up to Sirius’s face. “You know I don’t share what’s rightfully mine Pads.” His voice came out as a low growl and Hermione held back a whimper as Sirius grinned straight back. 

“Trust me Moons, I’d never want to share you these days.”

“Ahem!!” Harry said loudly and they both laughed as Sirius and Remus left the kitchen.

“My Gods, are they always like that?” Seamus asked and Harry gave a long suffering nod as Neville sat quietly nursing his tea and bemoaning the fact that his mum had, however briefly, once dated Severus Snape.


	2. An Unexpected Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!!!!! I’m so glad everyone is still enjoying this story, just a little heads up, this one is very definitely NSFW as there is a lot of smut in it!!!
> 
> Thank you to the wonderful champagneandliterature, for all of the alpha/beta help.

Hermione was still affected by Sirius and Remus’ interactions when she floo’d back to Hogwarts that afternoon. The weather outside was appalling, it was raining and blowing a gale, and she wandered over to the common room window to watch the leaves blow wildly around the grounds while she relived the moment she had witnessed.

She thought back to the Halloween Ball and how she had been similarly affected by watching Theo and Draco kiss, and a fresh shiver of arousal caused her to shudder. “You alright Granger?” She froze as Draco’s drawling voice washed over her, doing nothing to stem the disconcerting throb of arousal between her legs. 

“Ummm yes,” she said, relieved to find that she didn’t sound as affected as she felt. 

“Have you been to Sirius Black’s house for brunch again?” she inhaled deeply and pressed her thighs hard together in the hope of finding some relief but it didn’t help in the slightest. “Are you quite sure you're alright?”

She spun around as he approached, and gasped. He was once again fresh from the shower and his hair was still wet, hanging in untidy clumps around his face the way she liked it best. The black muggle t-shirt he wore contrasted starkly with his alabaster skin, as did the Dark Mark that he wasn’t even attempting to hide, and her heart rate sped up another notch. He took in her flushed cheeks and her shallow breathing and frowned in confusion. She knew she shouldn’t want him, for all his apologies and newfound courteous attitude he was still the boy who had taunted her for years and the sensible part of her brain was still warning her to stay well away from him. But, the promise of sin in his rapidly heating gaze made her do the exact opposite. She bit her bottom lip, unable to speak as he stalked nearer and cocked his head to look at her in confusion. “Seriously, what-” he stopped and his concerned look turned into a devilish smirk, “Wait, what’s got you so turned on?”

Hermione swallowed hard and ran her tongue over her bottom lip, wondering what to do. She wanted to grab him and kiss him into oblivion the way she had the previous weekend in Hogsmeade, but she had no idea what would happen if she did that when they were alone and in private. “I umm, I might have seen something that-” she broke off as his expression changed. His smirk turned into a dashing smile and his eyes visibly darkened as his lips parted slightly. 

“Wow! That was a lucky guess.” His voice was low and the deep base notes in it spoke to something primal deep inside her. He stepped closer to her, one step, then two, until he was just outside of her personal space. She inhaled, cedar, pine, and a hint of mint. His eyes narrowed as he watched her reaction. “What did you see?”

She could barely speak, “It was,” her voice was shaky, he was holding her gaze and moving a hair's breadth closer. “Just a moment between two men, and it made me think of you and Theo kissing last week…. and I,” she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. When she opened them again he was standing directly in front of her.

“And you what?”

“I was a little…. affected.”

He nodded. “So, you like watching two men together?” his voice was so low she could barely hear it. 

“Apparently so.”

He reached out a hand and ran it very gently down her side making her shiver. “That’s fortunate. Theo told me about your conversation the other night though. I don’t want to rush you. This moves at your speed and I’m happy to wait until you're ready before we do anything at all.”

“What If I don’t want to wait?” her voice was a whisper and it broke into a breathy gasp as he took another step towards her. “What if I’ve waited long enough already?”

“If that is the case then I will take great pleasure in showing you…..” he brushed his lips over hers, “exactly….” kiss, “what you’ve…..” kiss, “been….” kiss, “missing out on.” She grabbed him, pulling him towards her and groaning as he wrapped his strong arms around her. Her knees were already weak and she stumbled as he slid his hands down her body, under her thighs, and picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist and carrying her into what she knew to be the Slytherin boys dorm. 

Once inside, he kicked the door shut behind them, set her gently down, and eased her back against the wall. She stopped with a gentle bump and he lifted his hands to place  them on the wall above her head. He leaned forwards, effectively caging her in, and pushed his thigh up between her legs so that she whimpered and rubbed herself shamelessly against him, trying to relieve the aching pulse in her core. 

He kissed her again, much more urgently this time as he tangled his fingers into her hair and she froze as the dormitory door opened once again. “Oh,” said another startled, deep male voice. “What do we have here?” Hermione gasped as she looked over Draco’s shoulder into Theo’s deeply amused eyes. “Am I interrupting?”

A thrill of shock radiated through Hermione’s entire body. Draco turned his head lazily and regarded Theo with amusement. “You're very welcome as it happens. Hermione here just confessed to a rather interesting little kink, you can help me explore it.”

Theo dumped two full shopping bags beside his bed and stretched the tension out of his arms. “I see. And what exactly did she confess to?”

“Apparently our little witch gets extremely turned on when she sees two men kiss.”

Theo’s lips curled up into a smirk as his gaze heated. “How very fortunate.”

“Isn’t it?” Draco brought his thigh up to slowly brush between Hermione’s legs again and she whimpered softly.

“Come here then, both of you.”

Draco chuckled as he lifted an eyebrow in amusement. “Always so bossy, Nott.”

Theo just smiled more broadly. “As if you find that a problem.” He fluffed the pillows and patted the bed until Hermione crossed unsteadily to him and sank onto the soft mattress. She inhaled deeply as Theo’s scent surrounded her, wondering if it was possible to pass out from anticipation alone. Draco took his time in doing as he was told, but Theo just coolly waited him out. “What is it that turns you on then Granger?” Theo asked, studying her closely. “Oh, I see.” He smiled and Hermione felt the merest prickling of his legilimency in the front of her mind. Theo gestured to Draco and then took the hand he offered in reply, holding it and staring at him heatedly in the exact same way that Remus had held Sirius. “Just touching then? Or how would you feel about this?” He pulled Draco closer and stroked his still damp hair away from his face, before cupping his jaw with one hand and leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his lips. 

The look in Draco’s eyes was enough to make Hermione moan softly. Theo stepped closer and pulled Draco into him, deepening the kiss and tearing a low groan from him as he adjusted his balance and kissed Theo just as passionately back. They continued to devour each other as Hermione sat panting softly with desire. It was the single sexiest thing she had ever seen. When they finally pulled apart, both looking just as affected as she felt, Draco turned to her and grinned cheekily, “was that the kind of thing you had in mind?”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Theo closed the drapes around the bed with a flick of his wrist as Draco regarded him from under heavy lidded eyes. He stepped back and sat down on the bed looking thoroughly ravished. 

Theo turned to Hermione and smiled “Your turn.” It was a statement, not a question and her breath came out in a whoosh as she nodded and he sat on the bed beside her, kicking off his shoes. “I apologize by the way.”

“What for?” she asked in confusion.

“Invading your mind without your permission. I told you I can’t help it sometimes. You do seem to project your thoughts quite loudly.”

“Some people have no finesse,” Draco examined his nails carelessly as Theo rolled his eyes. 

“Fuck off, you. No one asked your opinion and we can’t all be as polished as you are!”

“Your lack of asking has never stopped me from giving my opinion before.” Hermione consciously relaxed as Draco grinned, she had tensed before she realized they were both joking. 

Theo turned to her and shuffled closer, then took her hand in his. “You alright, beautiful?” she nodded and held her breath as he leaned in and kissed her softly, sweetly, and in complete contrast to the way he had just dominated Draco. “You’ll tell me if you're not, right?” she nodded again as he pulled back and gestured to Draco to take over. “If you want to stop anytime that’s fine,” Theo’s eyes were dancing with mischief as he backed up and sank into the chair that Draco had just vacated, “but Draco here is particularly talented at bringing people off. Have you ever had an orgasm given to you by someone else?”

She shook her head, wondering exactly when the ability to speak had completely deserted her. “Perfect.” Theo licked his lips. Do you mind if I watch?”

Draco chuckled, “I think she’s quite open to the idea,” he said with a smile as Hermione blushed and nodded. He ran one finger over her cheek making her shiver, then tilted her chin up and kissed her again, smiling as she groaned and immediately pressed into him, her riot of emotions and arousal winning out over her nerves. Instinctively she pressed closer still, responding to his lead as he claimed her mouth with his tongue. His hands roamed lower, over her top, then slid underneath and made her suck in a gasp as he brushed his hands across her stomach, and against the swell of her breasts. He kissed her face, moving slowly down her neck, stopping for a moment to suck a love bite, and then moving his lips tantalizingly over the very top of her chest. 

The feeling was intense, and it caused Hermione to wriggle her shirt out of the way to offer more of herself to him. Draco responded by pulling her t-shirt up until she lifted herself off the bed so he could slip it over her head. “Gorgeous,” he breathed in a voice low enough to make her toes curl. The bra she had chosen that morning was black and lacy and it pushed her breasts up in a way that, judging by their appreciative groans, both men found enticing. Draco stroked his fingers slowly across the cups and she gasped as her nipples hardened almost painfully under his touch. He slid down the bed and kissed her stomach, tickling his tongue over her belly button and smiling as she squirmed. As he moved upwards again he brought his hands up causing her to arch her back and he flicked the clasp open with one deft hand. 

He held her gaze as he brought his hands up to her shoulders and took hold of the bra straps, silently asking for her permission to lower them. She nodded and he slowly brought them down her upper arms and slid them completely off. Hermione heard Theo take a ragged breath and she blushed as the pair of them stared hungrily at her naked upper body. Theo stood up as Draco took one of her nipples into his mouth causing her to close her eyes with a groan, only for them to snap open again as Theo touched her other side. 

“May I?” he asked and she nodded, mesmerized as he settled himself down beside Draco and mirrored his attentions. The feel of them both, sucking and licking her sensitive  buds was almost too much for her to bear. It was overwhelming, and pleasure pulsed through her, white hot and delicious as Theo nipped gently and she felt just the edge of his teeth against her sensitive skin. Someone unzipped her jeans and eased them down, she didn’t know who, all she could do was lay back and  _ feel _ as they both slowly ravished her. 

Two sets of fingers wriggled her jeans the rest of the way down her legs and she felt someone brush a hand over the gusset of her panties. “Fuck,” Draco muttered, “sweetheart, you’re drenched.” Theo released her other nipple with a pop and reached down to feel for himself. Both of them touching her so intimately when she had never felt a man’s hand in that way was almost enough to tip her over the edge. 

“Look at me,” Theo commanded and she knew what he was going to do before she felt it this time. “You are exquisite.” He smiled, obviously seeing the thoughts she was purposely trying to show him. “And I see you're happy to continue.” At Theo’s words, Draco slid a finger under the silken material and moved her panties to one side. He stroked his finger back and forth a couple of times then slipped just the very tip inside, watching closely for her reaction. 

Hermione groaned, tipped her head back and bucked up against him, wanting, needing more. Gently he pushed his finger in deeper and curled it as he moved it gently against her back wall. “Okay?” as touched as she was by his concern she was almost losing her mind. She needed him to pick up the pace. 

“Yes!” she gasped breathlessly, “please, more,” Draco chuckled as he obliged, adding another long slim finger and starting to move them in and out until she keened. He changed positions and kissed her mouth again, swallowing her moan as Theo brushed her clit with his thumb. 

They were both ridiculously talented and she was close, so close. she inched down the bed to urge Draco’s fingers slightly deeper and cried out as he brushed against what felt like a bundle of pure nerves. Theo pinched her clit, rolling it gently between his finger and thumb until the pressure became almost unbearable. “Oh!” she cried as one more stroke of Draco’s fingers caused her to detonate in a way that she had never before. 

It was incredible, stars burst behind her eyelids, she threw her head back and arched her back, pressing into them as they both stroked her through her climax and held her gently as she came back down to earth. 

“Hey,” Draco said, smiling as she finally opened her eyes.

“Hey,” she said as he slowly withdrew his fingers and held them out to Theo who smirked as he slowly licked them clean, before reaching down to kiss her once more. She gasped as she tasted herself on his tongue, and her body fizzled with more waves of pleasure in response to Draco’s sinful chuckle. 

“How was that then beautiful?” Theo asked and she smiled.

“That was incredible.”

His smirk only lasted a moment before it turned into an affectionate smile. “Good.” 

“Believe me gorgeous, there’s plenty more where that came from.” Draco smiled, flopping down beside her with a smile of his own, “you only have to ask.”

  
  
  


* * *

The Room of Requirement had turned itself back into a single room for that evening’s meeting. Hermione walked in rather shyly, holding hands with Draco, and blushed as Ginny squealed with glee at the sight. Instead of sofas, bean bags large enough for two were arranged in a circle, and Hermione settled into one with Draco, while Ginny and Blaise sat on the one to their left, and Pansy and Harry grabbed the one on their other side. As soon as Harry sat down he and Pansy started giggling and Ginny ogled at the sight of them entwined so closely together. “Oi! Pans?” Ginny called and the dark-haired witch reluctantly stopped kissing Harry to turn her head incredulously. 

“What? Wait a sec, did you just “oi” me Weasley?”

Ginny grinned. “Indeed I did. Well?”

“Very well, thank you.” Pansy smiled in a very satisfied manner.

“Pansy!” Ginny’s mouth dropped open in a look of fake scandal

“Ginevra.” Pansy’s smirk was all the confirmation Hermione needed, Harry had returned from Grimmauld Place and promptly disappeared for the entire afternoon. Now it seemed she knew where he had been.

“Details witch!” Ginny demanded.

“Oh, there were many.”

“How was it?”

Pansy’s eyes glinted as Blaise stared at both girls completely mystified. “What, the fuck are you two talking about?”

Draco looked just as confused, “search me mate.”

Pansy put her hands over Harry’s ears and grinned like the Cheshire Cat, “He is a-maz-ing!” Hermione giggled and clapped a hand over her mouth as Draco shook his head in surrender. 

“Pans!” Draco suddenly looked horrified as the penny dropped, “I do not need to know how the chosen one is in bed thank you!” 

Harry blushed and held his hands up in surrender and Theo chose that moment to rescue him by bouncing into the room and bowing theatrically once again. He had forgone the Cupid’s costume this week, which Hermione felt was a shame given that she now knew what his body was like underneath it. The rest of his act however was just as dramatic. “Good evening ladies and gents,” he greeted the room with a cheeky wink and unfurled the leaderboard. “At the close of the first week of play we have some interesting news and developments.” He paused and surveyed the participants on the bean bags. “Sadly we lost 2 couples, Pansy and Neville, and Daphne and Harry. This leaves us with a little problem, Gryffindor now has no team captain, since their initial one forfeited the game for a snog in the library. What’s that Pansy? Oh, I’m reliably informed that it’s not just snogging that’s going on between them now….”

Pansy stood up and took a bow as the chorus of clapping and whistling intensified, while Harry looked ready to disappear through the floor. “So moving swiftly on, it seems only fair to pass the badge to Hermione since she is partnered with the Slytherin captain.” He grinned as he stepped forwards and passed her the Captain’s arrow badge. “So with those four out, the leaderboard stands thus.” Hermione glanced at it as she pinned her badge in place. Ginny and Blaise were in first place, she blinked in surprise to see that she Draco and Theo were tied for second place with Luna and Parvarti, fourth was Ron and Millicent, fifth Hannah and Greg, sixth, Seamus and Cho, and Lavender and Dean were in seventh place at the bottom. 

“So. We move on to week two!” Theo brought their attention back to himself and the bulging bags that Hermione had seen him bring into the dorms. “The theme for next week is senses and sensations.” He unfurled yet another piece of parchment with the next week’s rules written on it, and left it hanging in mid air. “You are to explore all things sensory with your partner. Learn how they see the world, learn what music they like, how they like to be touched, what their favorite food is, and what scents they like, that sort of thing.” He waved his wand, a table appeared in front of him and he began unpacking items from the bags onto it. “Just a moment,” he finished laying everything out and then grinned. “Excluding the people who are out of the game, every couple needs to take five items, one for each of the senses. You know how the points tally up now, you get extras for how creative you are with this week's theme. Remember though, get caught and your out, cheat and your out, be a dick and you lose points. Ok, the couple in first place gets first pick. Up you get Gin, ladies first.”

Ginny bounced up to the table with Blaise following closely behind. “Ooooh!” she squealed, eyeing the items on the table carefully before choosing a feather and a bottle of scented massage oil. Blaise chuckled as he picked out a bottle of edible body paint, an odd looking pair of glasses, and a cd.

“Hermione, Luna, Parvati, Draco?” Theo asked and Hermione made her way to the table. There was a huge array of items and she watched Luna and Parvarti exploring them before turning uncertainty to Draco.

“Want some suggestions?” he asked and she nodded. He picked up a similar cd to the one Blaise had chosen, a scented candle and a tube of something multicolored, then turned to face her with a smirk. “Your choice now, I’ve got these three, its sight and touch that I’ve left you, you can choose how far you want to go with it.” Hermione gazed at the  unfamiliar items, still at a loss as to which ones to choose. “Do you trust me?” Draco asked, seeing that she was still faltering. 

“Weirdly I do. In this area, anyway, but what are you planning to choose?”

“Good girl.” With an amused glance at Theo who tried and failed to look innocent, Draco picked up a silk scarf and a blindfold. He turned to Hermione who gazed at his selection with wide eyes. “Hey, less of that look please, you said you trusted me,”

She pulled in a shaky breath and remembered that she had indeed said just that. Theo nodded his approval as Draco held the items up, and they stepped away from the table to let the others choose their items.

When everyone was done, and Pansy had taken her pick of the leftover items to try out on Harry, Theo rolled up the leaderboard with a tap of his wand and tidied the rest of the goodies away. “Off you go then, everyone. Friday is girls/boys night remember, and we meet back here next Saturday. Good luck all of you.” He waited until Harry had checked the map and let everybody safely out before joining Hermione and Draco by the door. “Alright petal?” he asked, ruffling Draco’s hair and Hermione nodded as Draco ducked out of his reach. “Interesting choices mate. I’m thoroughly looking forward to trying all of those out. On both of you.” His kiss was hot and full of the promise of more as he moved from Hermione to Draco, then flicked the door carelessly open with his wand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we have finally got our Facebook page up and running, come on over to 'Phoenix of Slytherin and Champagne and Literature' for sneak peeks, random HP related things and hopefully some art and moodboards. If you'd give us a like while you're over there we would both love you forever too!! 😀


	3. Underneath the Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope everyone is okay and not getting too bored in this latest lockdown. Thank you all so much for the kudos, reviews and comments on this funny little story, every single one makes me smile and jump around like a loon!
> 
> Here is the next chapter, but this one does come with a serious smut warning….! Sometimes I write stuff and read it back and wonder where on earth it all came from. This is one of those chapters! Please, please, pretty please, if smut is not your thing, stop reading this chapter once they get inside the domes! lol!
> 
> Many thanks to champagneandliterature as always, both for the alpha/beta help, and also for convincing me to be brave and post this mad chapter!
> 
> Let me know what you all think! Till next Saturday, stay safe everybody…. XXxx

“What did you choose from Theo’s table of goodies on Sunday then?” Ginny asked during a shared free period on Tuesday morning, “I saw Malfoy pick out the blindfold. What else did you lot get?”

Hermione blushed as she pictured the items currently tucked away in one of the boy’s bedrooms. “A silk scarf, a scented candle, a cd, and something in a bottle that changes color.”

“Oh my!” Ginny grinned. “Tell me, have you ever been tied up and blind- actually don’t answer that!” she suddenly held up a hand, looking horrified, “because that would be an experience that you shared with my brother, and I don’t need  _ that  _ image in my head.”

“No,” Hermione giggled, “you can relax, Gin. I never did anything like that with Ron.” They both looked up as Cho Chang walked over and hovered awkwardly beside them. “Hi Cho, are you alright?” Hermione asked, concerned by the other girls' obvious agitation. Cho nodded as Ginny patted the sofa beside her, and Cho perched on the edge and stared at her knees. 

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m pulling out of the game,” Cho said in a rush, and Hermione looked at her in surprise. “I wasn’t sure about playing it in the first place, you see, and I agreed to take part because Luna asked me to, but it’s just not for me. I’m really sorry, and I wish you all the best of luck with the rest of it. I’ve told Seamus, and it’s nothing to do with him either. He’s been the perfect gentleman, but it all just feels a bit wrong to me. Anyway, here’s my pin. Can you pass it back to Theo for me, please? I don’t really want to see.… anyway thank you, and I’ll see you around I suppose.” With that, she practically fled from the sofa leaving Hermione to stare at the pin in confusion and Ginny to roll her eyes.

“What was all that about?” Hermione asked.

“I think there are a few people who still think badly of the Slytherins,” Ginny confided in a whisper. “I heard her telling some friends that she wasn’t comfortable being around them too much, and there were a surprising number of people in the group who agreed with her.” 

Hermione narrowed her eyes in Cho’s direction. “Hmmm.” She tucked that nugget of information away for later and forced her mind back to the present. “Never mind that for now. Tell me what you know about the items that Draco picked out, Gin. I’m curious. I want to know what I might be in for.”

  
  
  


* * *

It seemed that Hermione was destined to find out what the two boys had in mind the very next day. Wednesday evening saw Hermione sitting with Pansy, Hannah, Millicent, and Luna, finishing off a particularly challenging transfiguration essay and chatting about the game. 

“Have you kissed Greg yet, Hannah?” Pansy asked out of the blue, and Hannah looked up with a shy smile and a blush as she fiddled with her quill. “Oooo! Tell me all about it!” Pansy scooted forwards in her chair and grinned as Hannah smiled even more broadly. “Did he kiss you, or did you kiss him first?”

“We sort of kissed each other at the same time,” Hannah confessed as everyone put their quills down, all thoughts of the troublesome essay temporarily forgotten.

“And?!” Pansy exclaimed when Hannah failed to say any more, “How was it?”

“It was really lovely,” Hannah confirmed, pushing her sandy blonde hair out of her eyes. “You were right, by the way, he wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss him, and so he was waiting for me to make the first move.” 

Pansy nodded, “Greg’s totally clueless when it comes to girls I’m afraid. And what about you, Granger? What’s this I heard about you in Theo’s bed last weekend?”

It seemed that their study session was going no further. There was a chorus of oooh’s and ahhh’s as Hermione gave them the abridged details of her afternoon in the Slytherin dorms. She was smiling when she finished telling the story. As unexpected as it was, she was definitely growing to like being part of a group of girlfriends. However, it was currently proving to be a massive distraction from her usually diligent studying. 

She was finally finishing her essay when Draco and the others stomped their way in from Quidditch training later that evening. With the extra seventh and eighth years being kept out of the usual school teams and therefore being unable to compete for the quidditch cup, they had unofficially formed their own house teams. All students who just wanted to play for fun attended official skills training with Madam Hooch one evening each week, and those who were on the teams attended further training sessions run by their team’s captain.  Judging by the sudden influx of multicolored robes now filling the common room, tonight had been a skills night. 

Two flashes of emerald green caught Hermione’s eye, and she looked up to see Draco and Theo, both staring down at her. Something about the mischievous looks in their eyes made her suck in her breath and bite down on her bottom lip. “Hey,” Theo said, giving her a thoroughly predatory smirk that only served to ramp her heart rate up even further. 

“Oh my God’s Granger!” Pansy squealed, looking at them both in amusement. “Harry better look at me like that tonight, or I’ll be seriously put out!”

“Uh, hi!” Hermione put down her quill and looked at Draco, who was regarding her with much the same expression as Theo. 

“How’s the studying going?” Draco’s hair was mussed and windswept, and his cheeks were flushed red from the cold November wind. 

“Good, thank you, I’ve just finished as it happens. How was training?” 

“Perfect. I bested Potter for the snitch. He’s vowed that it’ll be the one and only time but, we’ll see. Oh look, here he is now.” Draco pulled the still struggling snitch out of his pocket and grinned as he examined it against the light to goad Harry.

“We all get lucky once in a while, Malfoy.” Harry leaned down to kiss Pansy, his red robes falling open across the table as he moved, “don’t expect to get used to it.” 

“Well done, Draco.” Hermione fought a laugh. Draco and Harry’s identical, highly competitive natures never seemed to change. 

“So,” Theo smirked, “Training’s over, but it’s a beautiful night. Fancy coming for a flight with us?”

“Ummmm….” She looked at Harry in horror for a moment but all he did was grin and lean down to kiss Pansy.”

“Let me rephrase that.” Theo grinned, “you're coming with us. Ron’s already told us you don’t like flying, but I think we can possibly change your mind on that score.” 

“I...I am?” the looks they both gave her caused her mouth to go suddenly dry.

“You are. Yes.” Theo rolled up her finished essay and tucked it into her bag while Draco gathered up her quill and ink bottle. “Unless you really object, of course. But everyone else who is still part of the game is doing it, and there’s a very nice surprise waiting at the end of the flight.”

“In that case, I don’t object.” She said quietly as Harry gave her a surprised smile. 

“Good girl.” The heat in Theo’s gaze made her shiver. “Go and get some warm clothes, it’s chilly up there.”

  
  


* * *

And indeed it was. Hermione shivered as she stood on the quidditch pitch, surrounded by the rest of the game’s players, and stared at the two boys. “Who do you want to fly with?” Draco asked as Ginny stepped over Blaise’s firebolt. He sat down behind her and then kicked off into the sky like a rocket.

“Who is the steadier flyer?”

“Steadier or better?”

“Who is going to scare me less up there?”

“Probably me.” Theo shrugged. “Oh, come on, Draco, we all know you fly like the bloody wind. I’m slower and steadier!”

Draco smirked as he gestured to Theo’s broom. “On you get then, beautiful.”

Theo guided her into position and settled himself behind her. He was still wearing his quidditch cloak and she was surprised when it magically stretched to wrap around her as well. “This has got an anti-wind charm built in. You won’t feel the cold if you keep it wrapped around you.” She nodded gratefully, gripping the broom handle until her knuckles went white. “Relax, baby, I’ve got you,” he murmured by her ear and she pressed back into him slightly, reassured by the strength and security of his arms. 

She closed her eyes as they took off, and the wind whistled through her ears as the ground fell away alarmingly fast underneath them. “You don’t like to fly then?” Theo asked as he banked around, laughing at Draco who streaked past them, looped the loop and then passed them again in the opposite direction. She heard Ginny squeal as Blaise did the same thing and Hermione stared at them all as Blaise levelled out beside them. 

“I’ve just had a few bad experiences, that’s all,” she said, thinking of the doomed Thestral ride she had shared with Kingsley Shacklebolt, and her, Harry and Ron’s terrifying flight to freedom on the back of a dragon.

Theo nodded, flying smoothly despite the acrobatics going on around them. Draco, Blaise, and Ginny seemed to be trying to outdo each other with daring maneuvers and it made Hermione’s stomach clench uncomfortably just watching them. She noted with satisfaction that although Millie looked almost as uncomfortable on a broom as she felt, Ron seemed to be doing a very good job of looking after her. Parvati looked less comfortable, every time Luna caught sight of something that interested her she leaned alarmingly off of the side of the broom causing a look of terror to cross Parvarti’s face as she adjusted their balance. Dean seemed to have noticed what was happening, he and Lavender were tracking  Parvarti’s broom, as were Greg and Hannah, they were all clearly in position to catch Luna should the need arise. 

“Where are we going?” Hermione looked down. It was dark but there was just enough moonlight to make out the Forbidden Forest far below. 

“There’s a little spot we know. It’s not far now. We thought it would be a nice place to look at the stars for a bit. The sky’s beautifully clear tonight.”

Hermione looked up and saw that he was right. Thousands and thousands of tiny sparkling stars lit the heavens. Hermione was so enthralled with the display that she forgot her nerves. She tipped her face up to look into the eternal nothingness and felt Theo’s cheek brush gently against hers. He turned slightly and pressed a kiss against her cold skin and the intimacy of his gesture made her shiver. 

They were flying a long way. Hermione felt the distant tingle of the Hogwarts boundary as they flew over the wards. A few minutes later, they approached a hill and Theo started to descend. The change of broom angle was unsettling and Theo tightened his arms protectively around her as she tensed. “I’ve got you,” he whispered and she relaxed against him once more, only to feel her jaw drop when they landed.

“Oh my goodness, has this always been here?” she asked, stepping off the broom and rubbing life back into her stiffened limbs.

“Nope. Draco and I might have  _ accidentally _ missed most of training to set this up.”

“Not only did we set this up, but we also confounded Madam Hooch so she didn’t notice we were missing. And, I still beat Potter to the snitch!” Draco looked inordinately pleased with himself as Hermione walked closer to investigate. Five see-through domes stood on an area of flat ground. There was a heavy blanket laid out on the floor of each, snowy white bedding on top of the blankets, and as Draco waved his arm, an array of magical fairy lights lit the darkness. It was beautiful and romantic, and Hermione was totally  blown away by their creativity. “What do you think?” Theo asked and she grinned,

“I think it’s incredible!” she answered truthfully as Ginny threw her arms around Theo, hugged him briefly in thanks, and then followed Blaise into one of the domes. 

“There’s a privacy charm on these and they're fully soundproof as well. Just saying.” Draco smirked in Blaise and Ginny’s direction.

“Good thinking.” Theo chuckled as he took Draco’s broom and followed him to the nearest unclaimed dome. “This way then, my lady, after you.”

Hermione stepped inside and smiled as yet another surprise washed pleasantly over her. The domes were heated. The flight had been lovely, but it was November in the Scottish Highlands and therefore the weather was freezing. The gentle warmth of the dome was a very welcome change. She watched with a smile as the lower panels of the enclosure  gradually turned opaque. “This is amazing magic from both of you!” Theo grinned at her praise, kicked his boots off, then settled down on the soft duvet gesturing for her to join him.

She leaned back into the fluffy bedding and gasped. While the walls had given them privacy, the roof had stayed clear and the view of the moon and the stars was stunning. “How’s your astronomy?” Theo asked, leaning back beside her.

“I can hold my own,” she said and both boys grinned. 

“Top of the class then,” Theo stated and she didn’t argue. “Help us lesser mortals out will you please? What are we looking at up there?”

She lay back, wriggling her toes into the warmth of the fleece blanket at the bottom of the bed as she pointed out various constellations and planets. After a moment she noticed that while Theo was following her pointed directions, Draco was just watching her. She turned to face him, regarding him curiously. “I’m second in that class, Granger,” he smiled, “I know what’s up there. So right now I prefer to look at you two.” She shivered and moved fractionally closer to him. “Theo would be at the top of the class with us if he applied himself to his studies a little more, you know?”

“Oh?” Hermione turned to Theo as he raised an eyebrow and brushed the back of his hand down Hermione’s side making her shiver, “and why don’t you?”

He gave her a dazzling smile, “It depends what the subject is. You won’t best me in Potions or Herbology, for example. I’m pretty good at Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures too. And then there are certain extracurricular activities,” he stared at her from under heavily lidded eyes, “I particularly pride myself on my talents in those areas.”

Hermione’s breath was a little shaky as she thought about how best to respond. “I didn’t know you liked Care of Magical Creatures or Herbology for that matter.” She said, settling for avoiding the obvious.

“I’d guess that there's a few things you don't know about me, and a few that I don't know about you too. How about we learn a few things tonight?”

Draco edged closer on Hermione’s other side. “Do you know what this does?” He held the bottle containing the color-changing liquid between his thumb and index finger and she shook her head. “It’s a potion that lets you see someone else’s fantasies. I chose it because it seemed a little unfair that we can both see your desires if you let us, of course, but you would struggle to see ours.” Hermione frowned in confusion as she took the bottle and examined it. The potion inside changed from turquoise to a shimmering purple as she looked at it. 

“What’s in it and how does it work?” she asked suspiciously, knowing that she would never take anything that she didn’t fully understand. 

“Haven’t the vaguest,” Theo admitted, looking supremely unconcerned. Seeing her frown of disapproval, he quickly backtracked. “I can find out if you like. Unless you happen to know Draco?”

Draco merely shook his head with a smile. “Not a clue I’m afraid. But you’re right. We can find out. Anyway, she’s not refused it outright.” His smile turned into a grin as he watched Theo, “she just wants more information and I can work with that. I think in the meantime, we could tell her about one of our fantasies instead. What do you think?”

“I think I like that idea a lot.” Theo’s grin was broad as Hermione turned to smile shyly at him, “Do you like dirty talk, Hermione?” with an audible swallow, she nodded slowly. “Good. Who’s fantasy would you like to hear?” She looked at both of them, unable to make up her mind. “You go first then Draco. We all know what direction mine will take.”

“I don’t!” Hermione said, sounding very slightly alarmed. It was never too far from her mind just who she was currently dating, and her lack of experience in the whole area did nothing to reassure her. Cho’s abrupt departure from the game due to her unease about Slytherin house was still fresh in her mind as well. “What direction will it take?”

Draco just laughed, “Theo likes to be in charge in the bedroom. You’ve probably worked that out already, but his fantasies are a little on the spicier side. Me, I can go either way. In charge, not in charge, in the middle, it doesn't bother me.”

Hermione nodded in relief. “Okay, I still want to hear one from both of you, but let's go with yours first then Draco.”

He nodded and turned towards her, rolling onto his side and placing a hand on her stomach. “May I?” he asked, and when she nodded, he lifted her jumper and started to trace delicate circles over her sensitive skin. “So, imagine you're lying here all on your own, looking up at the stars, tracing the constellations with a finger, like you were doing a minute ago, and I’m outside watching you. You’re beautiful, all wild corkscrew curls and smooth olive skin…. Did I mention you're naked, by the way?”

His words caused her to shiver and he took advantage of her movement, tracing his fingers slightly lower. “You’re listening to a cd, the very one we picked out on Sunday in fact.  I'll explain what's on that another time. For now, all you need to know is that it’s turning you on. You start to squirm and touch yourself. You pinch your nipples and it makes you moan. One of your hands slips lower, across here,” he drew a gentle line down her stomach, “may I?” she nodded again as he flicked the button of her jeans open, and Theo helped him to slide them down her legs and off. 

“Your fingers slip down here, and you start to touch yourself.” He brushed his hand across the gusset of her panties, “you're wet, so very wet, and as your fingers dip inside you, you groan and call out my name. I watch you for a moment, surprised and thinking I’d misheard. But I hadn't. You call out to me again, and this time I answer you. You're shocked and embarrassed to be caught, but I slip into your dome and kiss you and you take my hand and guide it down to where you want it. It doesn’t take long for me to bring you off, and you come all over my fingers. When you're done, I ask you what you want and you tell me to  take my trousers off. You tell me that you want me. You want me to fuck you, and so I do, and it’s perfect because you somehow know that I’ve wanted you for a very long time. You come looking into my eyes and it's real and, oh...” he broke off with a cough as Theo chuckled, “I'm getting a bit emotional now!”

“Mate, you're such a softie.” Theo smiled, and there was such obvious affection in his gaze that Hermione’s eyes widened. She’d known that they were close, but the look Theo was giving him now was more than mere closeness. It was almost a look of love.

“Tell anyone that, either or you, and I’ll have to kill you both.” Draco sniffed. 

“Somehow, Malfoy, you don’t scare me.” Theo leaned over and kissed him deeply. When they pulled apart, Draco rested his forehead against Theo’s, and they smiled tenderly at each other, once more shocking Hermione with the obvious depth of their feelings. “You know I like that side of your personality, and if anyone ever made fun of it, then it would be me doing the killing. And if I make a promise like that, I  _ will _ see it through.” Hermione shivered. Somehow Theo’s threat seemed a lot more menacing than anything she had ever heard Draco say. “That same level of protection goes for you too, Miss G. I seem to be getting inordinately fond of you very quickly as well.” 

Hermione giggled as he diffused the intensity of the last few moments by pulling a goofy face. “I think I can keep your secret, Draco,” she said, “but I like that you have a softer side too, and I honestly think that you should let it out more often.” She smiled and turned rather shyly to Theo. “And I also rather like this protective streak you seem to have as well. May I hear one of your fantasies now please?”

Theo smiled, stroking her face gently. “I think I’ll start mine in the same place that Draco did, that is with you being here in this dome. We’d have agreed on everything beforehand mind, and you would have given your full consent. You need to understand that there's no way that any of this would happen if you didn't actively want it to. Are you with me so far, sweetheart?” 

She nodded, curiosity and apprehension mixing with a very obvious swirl of pure lust as she looked into his liquid blue eyes. “So, you're lying here, bringing yourself off, thinking you're all alone. But you're not. I'd be outside watching you, and just so we’re clear, we’d be pretending to not know each other well. In this fantasy, you’d know me from school, but that’s it. So, just when you were about to come, I'd try the door and find that you’d left it unlocked. I’d let myself in and you'd look up at me with frightened, lust drunk eyes. I'd tell you to carry on but not to come because your orgasm now belongs to me. I’d begin to tell you what to do, and you’d whimper, and you’d squirm as I did so. Pinch harder. Softer. Faster. Slower, that kind of thing.” He paused to brush a kiss over her lips and to check her reaction.

“You'd be begging me with your eyes to let you come, and you’d be about to defy me when I told you to wait because, well because you're feisty, and I like that about you. You’d want to know how far you could push me. So to show you that you couldn’t dominate me I'd take your hands in mine and put them up on the pillow. I’d use a sticking charm to keep them there, and then I’d bend your knees and stick your feet to the bed as well. You’d groan, partly  in frustration and partly because I made you just a little bit nervous. You'd still be on the edge of an orgasm but you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it now. You’d be completely at my mercy, and we’d both know it.” Theo paused to check in with her, “How are you dealing with this one so far, beautiful?”

Her breath was shaky, and her words wouldn’t come. The image he was painting was so vivid. She wanted to experience it for real. It was edgy, slightly dangerous, and it was making her more turned on than she had ever been in her life. “Very well.” she gasped as he moved down the bed and licked a line around her belly button, right where Draco had been circling his fingers earlier. He blew on it gently, and she shivered as he moved back to his original position, taking that as her answer.. 

“Next, I’d get myself undressed, slowly mind, and you’d watch me do it. My eyes would be full of desire as I looked at you, and it would frustrate you still further when I didn’t touch you. I'd get down on my hands and knees and lick your hot, sweet cunt, and every time I did so you’d cry out. Then I’d back away and kiss your mouth instead and you’d taste your juices on my tongue and it would drive you crazy. I’d tell you to beg me and you’d refuse, so I'd carry on slowly teasing and tormenting you. You’d get to the point where you couldn’t stand it any more, you’d look at me and you’d finally beg. Please, Theo, and as soon as you did that, I’d slide slowly inside you. You’d clench around me almost instantly, one thrust, two, and you’d come so hard you’d scream my name to the heavens. I’d fuck you through it and even as you came down, I’d carry on, and I’d take you right back up there again, harder and higher this time until you shattered into a million pieces all over my cock.”

She whimpered, wondering if it was possible to have an orgasm just by listening to someone talk. “As we both settled, I’d unstick your hands and feet and you’d roll over, and you’d want to be cross with me for tying you down and for withholding your orgasm, but you’d be so exhausted that you wouldn’t really have the energy to tell me off. So instead, we’d accept that we really did know each other and that it had all been preplanned, and we’d fall asleep right here, under the stars you’d been so diligently studying half an hour before.” He finally stopped, and she audible sighed, “what do you think of that one baby girl?” 

She couldn’t speak. Theo had been observing her reactions carefully, as had Draco. They both knew the effect their spoken fantasies had had. “I….I think,” she was almost incoherent with need, “I think one of you needs to make good on your promises right now.”

Theo laughed as he sat back on his haunches and gestured for Draco to take over. “Fucking hell!” Draco muttered as he brushed his fingers against her core, and she moaned, “I think she liked the ideas we’ve given her.”

Theo just smirked, “that’s good to know. Next time I’ll give you a fantasy that involves Draco as well. I’ve got a lot of those tucked away.”

Hermione bucked and writhed against Draco’s hand with a moan as he caressed her then slid his hand inside her panties, “What do you want beautiful, how far do you want me to go?” 

“I don’t want to wait any longer. This is perfect tonight. You are both so perfect. I want to do everything tonight.” Draco nodded as Theo moaned softly beside them. Draco kissed her, slowly, sweetly and moved his body to the side. She felt Theo move to bring her panties down her legs and off, then crawl back up her body to sweep his tongue through her folds making her gasp. He brought her closer and closer to release, his tongue dipping deeply inside and then back out again as Draco continued to kiss her mouth. “Oh Gods!” she breathed as Draco pulled back and vanished their remaining clothes. She could feel him, hard and unyielding against her, and she stiffened as Theo moved away, and Draco took his place. 

“Relax, beautiful. I’ll never hurt you,” Draco said, and she gazed up into his almost entirely black eyes. The tip of his hard length nudged against her, and she felt Theo’s fingers brush her nipple as his breath ghosted across her cheek. She turned to him, and he kissed her as Draco slid gently inside. She gasped and winced at the sudden, sharp sting. Theo pulled away and whispered a spell, and the pain instantly vanished. Draco moved back to kiss her as her body adjusted to his unfamiliar presence. “Tell me when you're ready and I'll start to move a little bit.”

“I'm ready.” He pressed slowly up into her and her eyes widened in surprise. There was no pain now, just the somewhat strange sensation of being really, really full. He was careful and gentle, and as he pulled out, she whimpered, only to gasp as he pressed back into her. His rhythm was slow and unhurried, and he waited until she was completely comfortable before starting to pick up the pace a little. 

Draco grunted and closed his eyes as he tried to hold himself back, but she was ready. She tilted her hips, instinctively drawing him further in, and she cried out as he thrust more deeply into her a few times and tipped her over the edge of oblivion. Two more hard thrusts and he joined her, finally collapsing down on top of her when he was totally spent. It took a few moments for her to calm and to realize what had happened, and when she opened her eyes, it was to find Theo smiling softly at her as he stroked Draco’s back. “You alright?” he asked, and she nodded, smiling back.

“Yes, I’m very alright, thank you,” she said, feeling utterly boneless as she laid back against the soft bedding.

Draco smiled too as he carefully withdrew himself. “You were amazing.” He said, stroking her mussed hair out of her face. “That was every bit as perfect as I always knew it would be.” He kissed her again, and she sighed, moving carefully onto her side as he laid the duvet over her, then beckoned Theo closer. One spell vanished Theo’s jeans and boxers and made him quirk an amused eyebrow. He said nothing, just gasped as Draco took him into his mouth and started to suck him off. 

Theo locked eyes with Hermione and she couldn’t look away. She gazed at Draco’s blonde head as he bobbed up and down, Theo’s long thick cock sliding deeply into his mouth and then all the way back out again. She looked back up into Theo’s eyes and saw the exact moment he was going to lose control. He tapped Draco gently on the shoulder to warn him that he was close, and Draco nodded. “Fuck it Malfoy, you’re so fucking good at this-” then he grunted and pushed Draco’s head down as he came. 

Hermione’s eyes bulged wide at the erotic sight and when Theo released Draco, he swallowed and gulped in a couple of hurried breaths before turning to Hermione and grinning. “Kiss me?” he asked, with a smirk and a wink, and curiosity overrode her exhaustion, making her lean forwards and press her lips to his. Draco chuckled as he pulled her closer and pushed for entry to her mouth. She yielded and let him in, tasting Theo’s release on his tongue. 

Theo groaned again at the sight and collapsed backward onto the bed. “You two are now officially my favorite people in the entire fucking world. You know that?” he tugged Hermione towards him and she settled down with him on one side and Draco pressed up against her other side. Snuggled together like that, all three of them fell asleep before they remembered where they were and that they really should get back to Hogwarts before the castle started to wake up.


	4. A Bit Of A Shock!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Saturday everyone! It’s a bit wet and rainy here, although apparently everyone else in the UK seems to have snow, so if you need something to take your mind off of the dismal weather hopefully this will do the trick! 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the continued support on this story, I love every single comment or kudos that we get on ao3, and every follow or favourite on fanfiction. They make me smile and inspire me to write more, so if you’re liking what you’re reading and you have the time, then come and say hi!
> 
> Many, many thanks to champagneandliterature, the most amazing alpha/beta that I could ever wish for.

The first thing Hermione was aware of when she woke up was that she was feeling incredibly hot. She was also trapped and unable to move, and as she opened her eyes, the reason for both problems became apparent. She was sandwiched tightly between Draco and Theo in the magical dome with the duvet tucked snugly up over them all. Draco was holding her tightly in his sleep, and Theo’s back was pressed firmly up against her as he snored softly. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, wanting to change position but being unwilling to wake either of them by moving just yet. It was still dark, although the very first glow of predawn was glimmering in the sky to the east, and the stars were starting to fade. 

A dull ache between her legs reminded her of what else had happened last night, and she smiled, remembering the perfect evening. She shifted slightly, suddenly desperate for the toilet and wondering how best to extract herself from the bed. She was thirsty too, and worry was beginning to gnaw at the pit of her stomach. Had they meant to spend all night here? What if the teachers noticed that they were all missing, and despite their eighth year privileges, they were in trouble when they got back to the castle?

She carefully slid up the bed, trying not to wake either of the boys, but Draco’s hand tightened on her arm, and she sighed. “Sorry,” she whispered as he opened bleary eyes, “I need a wee.” He nodded and reluctantly let her go.

She stepped into her shoes and wrapped one of the boy’s quidditch robes around herself, then stepped outside. It was freezing. Thick white frost covered the ground, and the icy leaves crunched noisily under her feet as she made her way towards the trees. When she was done, she paused, checking that she was still wrapped up decently as Blaise grinned at her from the door of his and Ginny’s dome. “Isn’t that the wrong color for you? Or are you switching allegiances now?” he asked.

She looked down at the emerald green robe and laughed. “Never. I’m Gryffindor till I  die. Unfortunately, I don’t have one of these robes, though. They’re lovely and warm.”

“They are, yes. Did you have a good night?” she nodded and blushed as Blaise laughed. 

“That good, huh? Well, I wish you luck in getting Theo back to the castle in time for breakfast. He’s not really a morning person.”

“And you are?” she blinked in the growing light. He was already dressed and looked to be tidying up when she had interrupted him.

“It’s the best time of day. Ginny thoroughly disagrees with me, though.”

“She would!” Hermione knew from experience how grumpy Ginny was before mid-morning. “Don’t take it personally. She hates the whole world before about ten o’clock!”

“Ditto for Theo. Best of luck!” Hermione grinned as she opened the door and slipped back inside her dome.

“Morning beautiful,” Draco was sitting up watching her as she hovered awkwardly by the door, “Who on earth were you talking to at this time? Wait, no, the only one who’d be bright and breezy at this hour would be Blaise. Am I right?” she nodded with a smile. “Did you have the hood up on that robe while you were chatting? just out of interest?”

“No, why?” she frowned as she wondered what to do. She was naked under the cloak, and he was watching her. If she opened the robe to get dressed, he would see everything, and she was still a little shy.

Draco smirked, “I’ve just never seen hair that screams I spent all night shagging better than yours does right now.”

“Oh no!” she reached up to smooth it down and sighed. It felt like a bird’s nest under her fingers. “No wonder he had such a twinkle in his eye!”

“Ah well, I’d wager that they did more than we did last night anyhow. Never mind. Morning sleepyhead!” Draco turned to grin at Theo, who had just prised one eye open and was glaring at them both. 

“Blaise, uh, mentioned that Theo’s not really a morning person,” Hermione said. Draco laughed as Theo just groaned and stuck the pillow over his head, mumbling something about it all being lies. 

Draco pushed the covers back, smacked Theo loudly on his naked bum, and stood up. He stretched and started to look for his clothes as Hermione did the same thing. Ten  minutes later, the pair of them were ready, and Theo still hadn’t moved. Draco rolled his eyes and finally sent a stinging hex at him, all while muttering about the time and grumbling about missing breakfast. 

Once Theo was up, it only took a couple of minutes to pack away the bedding and the domes. Hannah and Greg had already left, as had Parvati and Luna, with Dean and Lavender sticking close to their tails. Ginny was still grumbling sleepily as Blaise kicked off, and Hermione couldn’t say no to Draco when he asked her to fly back to the castle on his broom. “Okay, but no acrobatics, please, “ she said as she stepped apprehensively over the hovering Firebolt.

“None,” he promised, and she nodded as Theo soared up into the sky in front of them. 

She snuggled backward into Draco’s cloak and felt the difference in his flying as soon as he took off. While Theo flew steadily and felt relatively safe in the air, Draco was much more agile and precise. Flying with him felt just as terrifying as flying with Harry did. However, she reasoned, he had promised not to drop her, and it seemed to be the time for trying new things. “What about just a little bit?” she asked tentatively after a few minutes.

“A little bit of what?” Draco asked over her shoulder,

“A little bit of, you know, fancy flying?” she asked and felt his smile widen against her cheek. 

“How fancy?”

“Fancy-ish. Just promise you won’t drop me? I don’t know how the balance thing works.”

“I promise I won’t drop you. Relax into my chest.” She did as he asked, and he pulled the broom handle up so that they gained height. The ground seemed to fall away sharply and she fought every instinct she had to try to stay relaxed. He wheeled around, flying higher still, and changed direction smoothly. She felt like a bird. It was incredible. The wind whipped tears from her eyes as they flew against the sun. higher and higher, circling around and swooping up and down like an eagle. “Do you feel it now?” Draco asked, and she nodded, suddenly feeling rather emotional. “This is why I love to fly. We’re higher than the birds. No one can reach you up here. Even the darkness can’t catch you if you fly fast enough.”

She had the feeling there was more to that statement than just casual words, and she was sad when he started to slowly spiral back down. “Yes. I feel it.” She nodded, suddenly feeling very vulnerable as he took both of his hands off the broom to wrap his arms around her and kiss her cheek as he lazily flew back down to land on the quidditch pitch. 

  
  


* * *

When Hermione finally got back to the common room, she was still feeling exhilarated. She kissed Draco goodbye and let herself into the girl’s bedroom, then leaned back against the door, closed her eyes, and relived the swooping feeling of flying. As she let out a slow breath, she registered that Lavender and Parvati’s chatter had abruptly stopped, and the room was now silent. She opened her eyes to see them both standing frozen with indecision beside her bed. “What’s wrong?” she asked automatically.

“Umm…..” they exchanged glances, and Parvarti stepped forwards, looking nervous, “we just found this. It was pinned to your curtains when we walked in.” She held a piece of parchment in her hands, and Hermione looked at it curiously. What she saw made the bottom drop out of her stomach. She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth as she read the three words scrawled across the parchment in scruffy writing,  _ Death Eater Whore _ .

“We don’t…. I mean…. It was just there. We just found it!” Lavender cried desperately.

“We don’t think that way!” Parvati said as if needing reassurance that Hermione didn’t blame them for the incident. “We didn’t put it there. It wasn’t from us!”

Hermione stared at the parchment, all feelings of exhilaration and afterglow fading abruptly as reality came crashing back in. Cho’s departure from the game and Ginny’s assessment of her motives flashed through her mind once more. “I know you don’t think that way,” she said as reassuringly as possible, then she grabbed the parchment, turned on her heel, spun around, and headed to the showers before they could see her crumble.

She felt terrible that entire day. By the time evening came, Ron had sensed that something was wrong. He had been watching her in concern all afternoon, and clearly he had reached the end of his ability to remain quiet. He cornered her in the common room after dinner and steered her into the Gryffindor boy’s dormitory. Harry was lying on his bed idly flicking through a quidditch magazine when Ron cleared his throat, beckoned him over, and sat Hermione down on his bed. Harry raised his eyebrows and regarded them both quizzically. “Out with it ‘Mione. What did that blonde git do?” Ron practically growled his displeasure at seeing her so upset, and she smiled softly. His protective familiarity was reassuring, and she felt her bottom lip tremble as she pulled out the offending piece of parchment.

“It wasn’t Draco. Or Theo,” she admitted, and Ron frowned. “They were both perfect. It’s this.” She handed the parchment to Harry, and both he and Ron looked at it in horror. 

“What the bloody hell?” Ron said, leaping up off the bed as if the parchment had bitten him, “Have you shown your two, I can’t call Malfoy your boyfriend yet ‘Mione, I’m trying. Honestly, I’m trying, but still! Have you shown this to…. them?”

She shook her head while wiping away a tear. Everything suddenly felt a bit too much for her to bear. She leaned sideways into Harry as she cried, feeling Ron stroke her back reassuringly while he stared at the note as if he could destroy it with the force of his glare alone. 

She wasn't sure how long they sat like that, but the next thing she was aware of was the bed hanging being yanked open and Pansy staring at them in shocked disbelief. “Hey, Pans,” Harry said as Hermione straightened up and wiped her eyes. “Wait a sec!” Harry shouted as Pansy spun on her heel and marched furiously away. 

“You need to show this to Draco and Theo,” Ron said as Harry caught up with Pansy, and their furious whispers suddenly abated. There was a moment of quiet, and then Pansy hurried back to the bed. 

“What’s up, Granger?” Pansy asked, seeing her tear streaked face and puffy eyes and jumping up onto the bed beside her. 

Ron passed Pansy the note and her face contorted into a scowl as she read it. She snatched it furiously out of Ron’s hand and marched out of the dormitory and into the packed common room before anyone could stop her. “Alright, Listen up!” She shouted, abruptly cutting through the idle chatter. “I have a question, and I want an answer.” She glared around the room as every person in it stared at her in confusion. She held up the parchment, and there was a collective intake of breath. “Which lowlife, which absolute, fucked up, cockwombling fucktard left this on Hermione’s bed hangings last night?”

Harry nudged Hermione forwards out of the boy’s dorms as Pansy held the room captive. “That girl saved the whole fucking wizarding world, and this? This is the way you repay her. Whoever did this is a wanker. I want whoever did it to step forward, get on their hands and knees in front of her and grovel out an apology right now. And if Hermione’s got any sense, she’ll kick you in the face while you're down there. Well? Has anyone got anything to say for themselves?!”

Nobody moved a muscle, until to Hermione’s absolute amazement Hannah Abbott stood up rather shakily. “I don’t know who did it,” Hannah said in a small voice, “so I can't help there, but I got one of those notes on my bed hangings too.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Worse than the shock of getting the actual note was Draco’s reaction to the whole thing. He and Theo had been out of the common room during Pansy’s tirade, and when they came back, and Hermione had shown them the note, Draco had blamed himself for the whole thing. 

“Malfoy, stop being a dick.” Greg had spoken quietly as Draco had stood up, quite prepared to storm away in a fit of self hatred, and to Hermione’s surprise, Draco had listened to him. “Dorms.” Greg had fixed him with a look that Hermione couldn’t quite read, and Draco had nodded and followed the rest of them inside the Slytherin boy’s bedroom.

“You need to get a grip on this, Draco,” Greg said, sitting down on the nearest bed and holding out his own marked left arm, “You, me, we’re just the same. I’m not running from it, and neither should you.” He looked up as the door opened, and Blaise blinked in surprise,

“I’m really hoping you lot aren’t planning an orgy on my bed, not without me involved anyway.” He grinned. “Alright, who sent the notes? Who do we need to curse?”

“That’s just it. We don’t know.” Hermione said, shaking her head as there was another knock at the door. 

Theo opened it with his wand, and this time Harry and Ron stood in the doorway. “If you’re looking for somewhere to discuss this properly, I just spoke to Sirius. We’re welcome at Grimmauld. Remus is good at piecing together clues and picking things up. We might get something helpful from them.”

“Grimmauld Place?” Theo asked with a grin, “I’ve always wanted to see inside that house. It’s the stuff of legends! Come on, let’s go!” 

It wasn’t a small group that went through the floo either. Harry went first, taking a somewhat unsure Pansy with him, Ron followed with Millie, Ginny with Blaise, then Hannah and Greg, and finally, Hermione and Theo with Draco supposedly following. As they landed in the kitchen, though, Hermione realized that Draco hadn’t followed, and she abruptly abandoned Theo to go back for him. When he finally set foot into the kitchen, he looked up at Sirius and gave a defeated sigh as Sirius just stared passively back. 

Sirius and Remus had obviously been busy, having been warned they were coming. There were various snacks and nibbles piled haphazardly on the table, and Sirius made himself busy pouring hefty measures of Firewhisky for anyone who wanted them. Remus jumped up from his chair as Hermione greeted him. “Are you okay?” he asked, searching her face with a worried look. 

“I am now, yes.” She nodded as she set the offending piece of parchment down on the large farmhouse table. Hannah added her similar one and everyone in the room stared at the notes in disgust. 

“Have we got any ideas who did it?” Sirius asked, still handing out glasses and rolling his eyes when Hermione asked for a measure of lemonade in hers. “Anyone else want to dilute vintage Ogden’s?” he asked, muttering about sacrilege as he added half a glass of mixer to Hermione, Millie, and Hannah’s glasses. 

“I’ve absolutely no idea at all, I’m afraid,” Hannah admitted, still looking upset. 

Remus had picked up one of the notes and was running his wand over it, trying to pick up any clues about who the writer could be as the boys started hungrily on the snacks. “And there was nothing left on your curtains, Ginny?”

“Nope. Ginny shook her head. “But I’d have been surprised if there was. That would mean that whoever did this got into Gryffindor tower too. Remember I’m supposed to sleep up there still, aren’t I?” She looked at Blaise, and he just squeezed her hand. 

“Thereby insinuating that you don’t currently?” Sirius asked, and Ginny grinned.

“Um, not for a while, no.”

Sirius just grinned back, “I hope you’re looking after this one,” Sirius said to Blaise as he ruffled Ginny’s hair affectionately, “She’s quite special, you know. Anyway,” he nodded as Blaise confirmed that Ginny was special to him as well, “it’s easy enough to get into Gryffindor tower if you're determined and have enough nerve. Is there a chance that a note is there and you just haven’t seen it yet?” He asked. 

“No.” Blaise confirmed, “we went up to check, and there was nothing on my bed either. I think the writer was selective. Draco and Greg were marked Death Eaters, Theo and I weren’t, although both of us could be easily linked to the cause. I think that’s why only Hermione and Hannah received the notes.”

Remus nodded. “So it’s someone who knows their stuff then? Or is that fact common knowledge?”

“I’d say it’s fairly common,” Blaise agreed, “more so about me. Theo has an interesting tattoo on his left arm that could be mistaken for a Dark Mark if you weren’t looking properly. He seems to enjoy courting the controversy it causes.”

“What?” Theo threw back the rest of his drink as Sirius looked away to hide his amusement, “courting controversy, me? I don’t know what you mean,” he retorted sarcastically.

“It wouldn’t matter anyway,” Blaise raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow in Theo’s direction, as Pansy snorted with laughter. “You're with Hermione too, so one note would cover both you and Draco and get its point across nicely.”

“I’m not sure which is the most offensive part of the whole thing, to be honest,” Remus frowned, “Referring to the boys as Death Eaters or the girls as whores.”

“The slur at the girls!” Pansy said indignantly as Harry nodded his agreement, “I swear quite a lot if I’m honest, but I would never use an indefensible word like that. There are some words you just don’t say!!”

“I’d say both slurs were meant to be equally upsetting,” Greg said, speaking for the first time as he took Hannah’s hand. “And very specifically targeted too. Which makes me think that the writer knows us quite well. Both slurs would upset Draco. Theo and I wouldn’t care about being called Death Eaters, but both of us would simply kill whoever said that about Hermione and Hannah. I was what I was. I can’t change that, and it doesn’t bother me like it bothers Draco. So this is less about me and more about Hannah for us. I didn’t say anything in front of other people because my record goes against me, but I’m not just standing for this. People can say what they like about me, and I probably deserve it, but they’re not dragging Hannah into anything.”

“Alright mate,” Theo put a hand on his shoulder, “Well said. We’re not just standing for it either. I’m taking it the same way you are. I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the Death Eater slur, but Draco could, and I’m protective of him. I’m also incensed that someone would  say this about Hermione. So I feel aggrieved on both of their behalfs. So,” he looked around the room and noted both Sirius and Remus giving him and Greg approving if rather surprised smiles, “Greg, you and I both have fiery tempers. Is it someone trying to provoke the pair of us?”

Hermione glanced at Draco, who was twisting the signet ring on his finger, almost compulsively and not looking at anyone. “You can add me into that too because whoever they are, they insulted my girlfriend. And difficulties in this area aside, I’m not just taking that lying down.”

“Have you thought that it might be someone who wants you for themselves and therefore wants to scare the girls away, or that it’s just simply someone with a grudge against the girls?” Harry asked.

“For what reason would someone want us?” Draco asked in confusion, but Blaise smirked.

“Oh, come on, Malfoy. You know you're highly eligible, particularly to someone interested in all the pureblood nonsense. Theo and Greg are coveted too in that regard. If whoever wrote this wants one of you and supports the cause, then they stand much more of a chance with you if they’ve chased the girls off, don’t they? Neither Hermione nor Hannah are shining beacons for the dark arts. I hope you don’t mind me saying so, girls?”

“Actually,” Remus leaned back in his chair as Hermione frowned, “all of your theories make a lot of sense. Have you got anyone in mind as a suspect?”

“Unfortunately not,” Blaise admitted, holding his glass out for a refill as Sirius went round with the bottle, topping up glasses again. “Thanks.”

“I think it’s more likely to be someone who feels like Cho does. Oh, I don’t think it’s her for one moment. She’s far too meek to do something like this, but maybe someone who shares her sentiments.” Hermione said. 

“Which would be what, half the bloody school?” Draco asked, still looking rather skeptical. “Whichever way we look at things, we haven't ruled anyone out. It’s either someone who likes us or someone who doesn't.”

Sirius laughed. “Good being notorious, isn't it? Welcome to my world!” he lifted his glass in a toast, and Theo and Greg clinked their glasses with him. 

“Oh, come on, grumpy guts, cheer up.” Theo nudged Draco, and he rolled his eyes. “And what about you two?” Theo asked, turning to Hermione and Hannah. “How do you feel about it all?”

“Annoyed!” Hermione snapped. “Initially, I was shocked, and hurt, really hurt, both on my own behalf and yours, but now I’m just pissed off. How bloody dare they do this to all of us?”

“Exactly!” Hannah agreed. “I feel the same.”

“Well, in that case, I think the thing to do is to carry on as normal, girls. If you get any more notes, then we may change tacks. Just be aware and alert and see what happens next. If anything does.” Remus said. “I think between us we can probably pull a few decent hexes together should the need arise.” His eyes twinkled as he looked around the room, “don’t you?” 

There was a chorus of approval and glass clinking, and even Draco smiled as talk turned back to other, more pleasant things and the night they had all shared underneath the stars. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lastly… We have made a little facebook group!!! Come join us at Phoenix of slytherin and Champagne and literature for sneak peaks of stories, fanfic related art, and hopefully other goodies, we’d love to have you along. Till next week… XXxxx


	5. Friendships and Transformations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone…. It’s Saturday and therefore time for another update!!
> 
> Thank you so much to champagneandliterature for all your alpha/beta work. 
> 
> I hope everyone is still enjoying the story and wondering who sent the notes…. There are no answers to that yet I’m afraid! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I’ll be back with another update next week! XXxx

By Friday evening, Hermione had fully come to terms with the offensive notes she and Hannah had received. She had felt trapped inside a whirlwind of emotions all day. Hurt, embarrassment, shame, self-righteous anger, and protective fury had all chased themselves in circles inside her brain until she had finally reached acceptance, and then a burning curiosity to find out who had been behind the hostile acts. By the time she was marching back and forth in the corridor outside of the Room of Requirement for their weekly planned girl’s night, she had settled on just one thing. She was going to find out who was behind the vile slurs and bring them to justice. 

The notes’ personal nature didn’t seem to be bothering Theo in the slightest, other than keeping a protective eye on her and Draco. He seemed to be just as cheerful as usual. If Hermione had noticed anything different about him at all, it was the extra spark of defiance that now shone in his blue eyes. It was as if by raising his challenge to the world at large, he hoped to provoke a reaction from the note writer in return. 

Draco was the complete opposite, however. It had taken him until mid-afternoon to stop avoiding everyone, including Hermione, and to start behaving normally again. She suspected that his change in attitude had resulted from Greg and Blaise cornering him after Transfiguration, but since Professor McGonagall had held her back to discuss an extra credit assignment, she had missed their entire conversation and therefore didn’t know what had been said to lift his despair.

Hermione smiled, finding herself pleasantly surprised by what she had seen of Greg over the past two days. He didn't usually have a lot to say, but when he did speak, his words were thoughtfully chosen and intelligent. He also seemed to be one of the very few people  that Draco truly listened to. When Greg told Draco to stop beating himself up about the notes, Draco not only took his words to heart but acted on them too. 

She took a deep breath to ground herself back into the present, opened the now visible door, and stepped into the Room of Requirement. The layout inside was identical to how it had been the previous week. The divide between the two halves of the room was back, and the raucous shouts of laughter from the boy’s side reminded her that she was rather late. She had lost track of time in the library while finishing her homework and had hurried back to find the common room almost deserted save for a large group of Ravenclaws in the corner. While stopping to reorganize her bulging book bag on a nearby table, she had overheard snippets of a whispered and rather incriminating conversation between two of Cho Chang’s friends. Hermione had lingered out of sight for a while to listen further, and the girl’s opinions had proved rather eye-opening. These particular girls hadn't been the ones who had left the notes, but they made it clear that they fully supported whoever had.

Hermione had just about managed to hold her temper back and to only hex them discreetly and she had smirked as she’d left the common room thoroughly pleased with her retaliation spellwork. She had jinxed the essays the girls had been working on to appear unreadable to any of their teachers. The ink would be perfectly visible to the two girls themselves so that they would hand their essays in as usual, but to the professor who tried to read them, they would appear as nothing more than blank sheets of parchment bearing the student’s names. 

She was still smiling in satisfaction as she hugged Ginny and the others hello and accepted a glass of prosecco from Pansy. “You're late, Miss G, and we need in-for-ma-tion from you.” Ginny grinned, drawing the word out with an eyebrow wiggle. “Sit down and tell us what happened in the domes! We were distracted by the notes yesterday, but you can’t escape any longer!”

Hermione grinned, she had been expecting this very question, and for once, she was more or less ready to discuss it. She sipped her drink, feeling the bubbles pop with a gentle fizz on her tongue as she looked up. Ginny, Pansy, Luna, Parvati, Lavender, Millie, Daphne, and Hannah were all gazing at her expectantly. “Why do I have to go first?” Hermione laughed, “I promise I will tell you, but what about some of you going first to ease me in? You’re all much better at this than me, after all. How were all of your nights?”

“Well, Daph and myself didn’t go, so we’re out of the storytelling, I'm afraid. Although, I will tell you  _ exactly  _ what Harry and I got up to in his bed instead if you like?” Pansy volunteered. Ginny clapped her hands, and Lavender and Parvarti each gave a squeal of encouragement, and by the time Pansy was through with her vivid descriptions, Hermione needed a top up of prosecco to settle her shredded nerves.

Ginny’s stories from her and Blaise’s night in the domes were equally wild, although, slightly less eye watering. Hermione still found it a little uncomfortable to hear about Harry in such a sexual way, although some of Pansy’s descriptions were causing her to look at him in a rather different light these days. Ginny felt the same way when it came to Ron. Millie closed her eyes and smiled shyly as she recounted losing her virginity to him under the  stars. After the first few sentences, Ginny managed to unstick her fingers from her ears, unscrew her eyes, smile, and contribute, albeit much more modestly, to the conversation and by the end of Millie’s dreamy storytelling, Ginny had even managed to look slightly proud of her brother’s very gentlemanly handling of a rather delicate experience.

Hannah’s story easily got the most oooohs and ahhhhs of the night. She told how Greg had brought his guitar along with them and had taught her how to play a few chords, then they had gone for a midnight walk under the glittering Milky Way and finally spent the night cuddled up snugly against each other in bed.

Lavender, by contrast, had discovered a serious problem with her and Dean’s fledgling relationship. He had chosen that night to confess a huge secret which Lavender categorically refused to divulge but had resulted in them sitting up chatting until two in the morning and then falling asleep platonically next to each other. Hermione smiled in satisfaction, she would never say anything in the group without permission, but she guessed that Dean had told Lavender that he was gay. While this obviously presented a problem for Lavender from the game’s romantic point of view it wasn’t at all surprising. Hermione knew that it had long been rumored, and she was glad that Dean was finally coming to terms with his sexuality. 

All heads turned to Luna and Parvarti next, but nobody got very far past Luna’s benign smiles and Parvati’s deep blushes, so after some gentle but totally ineffective probing, they all moved on. “Alright, Hermione.” Pansy picked up a new bottle of prosecco, popped the cork, and topped off all of their glass as everyone turned back to Hermione. “Out with it, what happened, and which one did you shag?” she grinned wickedly as she paused, “or was it both of them?”

Hermione blushed and smiled. “Draco,” she said, and the room exploded in excitable squeals. 

“Tell us, tell us, tell us!!” Ginny shuffled forwards in her seat, as did everyone else, and they all listened eagerly as Hermione recounted what had happened. 

When she was finished, everyone in the room was smiling with satisfaction. “That sounds so perfect,” Parvarti said dreamily, and Hermione nodded, feeling rather emotional, all of a sudden herself. 

“So, I didn't ask any of you before because I wanted to find out for myself,” she began rather haltingly, “and from my limited experience, the other night was absolutely perfect, but I'm guessing from what you've all said that Draco and Theo are both rather... umm... talented in that area?”

“Talented?!” Pansy screeched, “good grief, girl. If I didn’t have Harry right now, I’d be madly jealous of you! Yes. They’re both excellent indeed. It was your first time, tell me, did it hurt in any way? was anything awkward?”

“Nope. It was perfect.” Hermione answered with a smile.

“There you go then.” 

Ginny nodded, “I’d say that Blaise is the best I’ve ever had, but Draco comes a close second for me.” Ginny grinned. He’s just so adorable. Everyone thinks he’s this tough and heartless bad boy, and, in fact, he’s a little sweetpea.”

“Whereas everyone thinks Theo’s a cheeky little sweetpea, and in fact, he’s the one who’s a tough, semi heartless bad boy.” Pansy agreed with a laugh. 

“Yes,” Hermione agreed dreamily, “I think I had their personalities the wrong way round in my mind too.” She took a deep breath and asked the question that she wouldn’t have asked had she not been two and a half glasses of prosecco into the evening, “so what’s it like to have Theo, you know, like that?”

“Amazing,” Daphne said, smiling dreamily. “He’s the best.”

“Ah.” Millie turned to look at Daphne in surprise, “so you’ve forgiven him for dumping Tracy, then have you?”

“What?” Hermione asked in concern, “When was he with Tracy?”

Millie frowned, “directly before this game. She’s always liked him from afar, and I don’t quite know what happened, but they got it together, and then this game came to light, and he dropped her like a stone. She was heartbroken for a while, but I think she’s over it now. She’s started seeing that Hufflepuff guy, Justin... somebody, and she seems happy with him now, so I guess we can just about forgive Theo for hurting her like that.”

“Tracy and Theo would never have worked out long term anyway though,” Daphne said, “She’s too quiet for him, and he’s too showy offy for her. Don’t worry about it Hermione, it all happened well before you came along. We were cross with him over it because Tracy is a good friend, and he hurt her, but we’re all good now.” Daphne smoothed her long blonde hair back and fixed Hermione with her emerald green eyes. “I believe you wanted to know what he’s like in bed?” Hermione tucked this latest and slightly alarming piece of information away to fully process later and nodded as Daphne smiled. “So…. it’s quite possible for that boy to just talk you into an orgasm-”

“Oh, I know!” Hermione widened her eyes in shock at what she had let slip and clapped her hand over her mouth. 

“And then,” Pansy said as everyone laughed, “before you’ve come down from that, he’ll just use his fingers or his tongue, and you’ll be straight back up there again, and that’s before you even get near his-”

“And before Draco even gets a look in, Merlin, if I had the two of them together, I think I’d just about die.” Daphne finished, interrupting with a giggle and a blush.

“I practically did,” Pansy admitted. 

Ginny just smiled wickedly as she tossed her impossibly long hair back, “do you think partner swapping comes up as one of the rounds in this game? Or what about foursomes? Do you think Blaise would let me add those two into our-”

“Nooooooo!!” Hermione shouted, and everyone laughed harder as Lavender topped up their glasses yet again. “Come on then, Ginny, I can’t believe you’ve slept with Draco in the past, and I only found out about it last week. Spill the beans yourself, madam!” Hermione said as she tucked a leg underneath her bottom to listen as Ginny launched into yet another very lurid and descriptive tale of her and Draco’s past encounters.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Alright, you lot, this is becoming a habit now,” Sirius said over the seemingly never ending roar of the floo. He grinned at Ron and Millicent, who had just landed in the kitchen as Remus put a handful of vials of hangover potion onto the scrubbed kitchen table and started pulling more food out of the fridge. 

“You can’t really complain though, Pads,” Remus said mildly, “do you remember what you said to them all before they went back to school this September?”

“Remind me, Moony, I’ve been asleep since then, and I’ve probably forgotten.”

“You told them to enjoy themselves this year. You said they should let their hair down and enjoy being young with no life threatening distractions for once. Now you're paying for that remark in hangover potions, bacon sandwiches, and first aid.”

“I’ll bring you some of our potion stash.” Theo grinned from his seat at the table, “we’ve got plenty tucked away in our dorms.”

“A sensible thing to keep on hand.” Sirius nodded his approval as Harry and Pansy stumbled out of the floo and into the kitchen. Harry grabbed two vials of potion, passed one to Pansy, and they both downed them and sat down without a word. “How were your respective nights?”

Hermione blushed at the memory of the past evening’s conversations, and Ginny smirked, “ours was very enlightening indeed. Wasn’t it Miss G?”

“I’m not answering.” Hermione covered her face in her hands, blushed even deeper, and groaned as Draco stroked her arm reassuringly, and Ginny wolf whistled.

“Any more awful notes?” Remus asked, looking rather pale as he put several pans on the stove. 

“No. Although I did hear something interesting yesterday.” Hermione recounted what she had overheard in the common room and how she had gotten back at the girls who had  been gossiping, then turned to high five Pansy, who was looking significantly brighter now that her hangover potion was starting to work.

“Are you sure you were sorted into the right house, Hermione? That’s a very sneaky hex. I’m proud of you.” Millie said.

“Gryffindor’s can be sneaky if we need to be too.” Sirius asserted, ruffling Hermione’s already untidy hair. He pulled out a chair and guided a still pale and unsteady looking Remus away from the cooker and pushed him down into it. “Well done, Kitten. Just make sure they don't find out who did it.”

“That's the beauty of that particular hex,” Draco said, also sounding rather proud while he looked uncertainly at Remus. “They can’t find out who did it because they won't know that the parchment is hexed until they hand it in, and by then, it’s far too late to know where and when it was done. Would you like a hand cooking, Ron?”

“Uh…. yes, please,” Ron paused halfway through cracking eggs into the pan that Remus had abandoned, and turned to stare at Draco in surprise. Remus handed Draco the bread, and they both watched him put several slices into the toaster. 

“Thank you. Otherwise, it would have fallen to Sirius to help, and it’s never a good idea to let him near the cooking.” Remus said with a nod of approval.

“That's a Black family trait, I'm afraid,” Draco nodded, as Sirius sniffed in amusement and put a hand to Remus’s forehead as if to take his temperature. “My mother is the same. Now happily, it’s not a Malfoy one, say what you like about my Father, and I’d agree with most of it, but he’s an excellent cook.”

Hermione was glad that she wasn’t the only one who snorted with laughter at that statement. She caught Ginny’s eye, and her amusement only intensified. She knew they were both imagining the same thing, Lucius Malfoy with an apron on in the kitchen. It was rather a disconcerting image for that time in the morning. “Actually, I agree,” Theo said with a grin, as Blaise and Pansy both nodded in confirmation. “As unexpected as it may sound, Lucius is an outstanding chef.”

Sirius took a full minute to recover from that statement too. He nodded his thanks to Draco, put the butter on the side, and turned his attention back to Remus with a smile. “Are you okay, Remus?” Hermione frowned, running through moon cycles in her head, “You look a bit... peaky.”

“It’s the full moon tonight,” Sirius answered stoically, and a visible ripple of tension passed through the kitchen. “Now look,” Sirius stood up, his shoulders strong and his expression haughty, “we might as well get it all out in the open, mightn’t we? It  _ is  _ the full moon, you all know what Remus is, and if you're all going to be coming round here more often, then you need to get used to hearing us talk about it. It’s not a big deal to us, and if it is to you, well, there's the floo.” He picked up the pot of floo powder and held it out defiantly as Remus stared intently at his hands. 

To Hermione’s surprise, Pansy nodded, and Theo held out his hand to Remus first. “Gotcha. Friends?” Theo asked.

Remus nodded, looking thoroughly shocked, and shook first Theo, then Draco, and then Blaise’s hands. Once the boys were done, Ginny threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Hermione did the same, Millie smiled, and after a moment of uncertainty, Pansy offered him a hug too.

“Well, that's’ that then.” Sirius put down the pot of floo powder and looked around the room slightly less aggressively. “No more acting like silly buggers if one of us mentions it from now on, please.”

“Thank you for that.” Hermione heard Harry say, and she smiled at Pansy’s answering nod. Although Pansy was still looking wary, she was trying her best, and Hermione was impressed with her commitment to Harry. Most pureblood children were brought up to fear and despise werewolves, and Pansy’s new open mindedness was as welcome as it was surprising.

After they had all eaten and sat around idly chatting for an hour or so, Harry, Pansy, Ginny, Blaise, Ron, and Millie all floo’d back to Hogwarts in a somewhat panicked attempt to at least make a start on their mountains of homework. Hermione, Draco, and Theo opted to spend most of the remaining day at Grimmauld Place however. Draco, Hermione had discovered, was almost as diligent at studying as she was, and they had both completed all of their assignments with plenty of time to spare. In contrast, Theo simply didn't care about his schoolwork unless it was for one of the subjects he liked, namely Potions, Herbology, or Care of Magical Creatures. He frowned dismissively at the mention of the rest of his homework, shrugged off Hermione’s worries, and accepted Sirius’ offer of a walk into one of muggle London’s parks. 

The beautiful Autumn weather made her very glad that both he and Sirius had talked them all into going out. They spent a perfect afternoon kicking through piles of crunchy, fallen leaves and enjoying the last few rays of sunshine before the weather turned truly dreadful for the winter. Remus seemed to perk up in the sunshine too, and by the time they all returned home, he was feeling a little better. “I’m going to bed for a bit,” he admitted once they were all settled around the table and warming their hands on hot mugs of cocoa, “I'll be having a difficult night, and I could do with the extra sleep right now. I'll’ see you when it's all over. And,” he paused, turning to Draco and Theo, “thank you both for the acceptance you showed me earlier. It means a lot.”

“No problem.” Theo grinned cheerfully, “you were the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we ever had. I was sorry when you left.”

Remus nodded once more, kissed Sirius tenderly, and left the kitchen looking touched. Sirius nodded his head, asking Theo to follow him, and they both left the room, leaving Hermione and Draco alone together.

“Sometimes, your group of friends amazes me.” Draco smiled and took her hand, holding it tightly for a moment to still her as she stood up and started to gather the dirty plates  and cups, “I’m trying, okay Hermione? I'm trying, and I’m not used to all of this,” he gestured vaguely around the kitchen with his hand, “am I doing all right?” 

Hermione’s heart melted as she straddled his lap and bent down to kiss him, “Yes, Draco, you're doing more than all right. I promise.” She kissed him again and smiled, “I loved the way you pitched in to help Ron cook breakfast earlier, and I love how you just accepted Remus for what he is. That can’t have been easy for you.”

Draco sighed, “neither thing was that hard. To be honest, I should have done it all years ago.”

Hermione leaned down and inhaled the scent of his hair. “Better late than never, though, huh?” she asked, and he reached up to pull her into his kiss.

  
  


* * *

  
  


When they finally broke apart, they both pitched in to clear up the kitchen, and twenty minutes later, when they were finished, there was still no sign of Theo and Sirius. Slightly suspicious as to what they were up to, Hermione led Draco through the house to look for them. There was no sign of them anywhere, though, and she was starting to get concerned when Draco pushed the back door open to reveal them both sitting on the small patio, each with a half-drunk glass of firewhisky and a lit cigarette in their hands. 

Hermione opened her mouth in surprise, but Draco beat her to it, “I thought you’d given that up!” he said accusingly. 

Theo looked at him guiltily as he exhaled, “Did you?”

“That was what you told me,”

“That’s not quite what I said,” Theo blinked, and Sirius conjured two more whiskey glasses with an amused smirk. He silently poured Draco a drink and stopped when Hermione held her hand up to decline his offer. “You told me that I  _ should _ give up, and I didn’t disagree. That’s not quite the same as actually doing it, though.”

Draco just grunted as he sat down beside them and sipped from his glass. He pulled Hermione onto his knee as she glared at Sirius, “you should give up too, and while we’re on the subject of vices all three of you could probably do with new livers, I don't know how you all drink so much either!”

In response, Sirius took a long drag of his cigarette and blew smoke into the air away from her. He held her gaze with a twinkle of mischief in his grey eyes, “wasn’t it three hangover potions that you’ve had in the last three weeks yourself, Kitten? And anyway, drinking is a well known talent of mine. It comes from trying to match Remus drink for drink. Not many people can keep up with a werewolf’s metabolism.”

“But that doesn’t make it a good talent to have!” she scowled. The fact that he was right about her own recent drinking habits did nothing to settle her irritation.

He merely tipped his glass to her as she huffed “I do love it when you’re all feisty, Kitten. But jokes aside, it’s likely to be a difficult evening, so I’ll tuck your dire warnings away and take heed of them tomorrow if that’s okay.” 

“Is that so you can just ignore them tomorrow instead of today?” she glared at him playfully as her grumpiness subsided, and he grinned.

“Absolutely right.”

“On that note, and before I get myself into any more trouble, we should probably leave you to it. Let’s get back to Hogwarts, shall we?” Theo chuckled at Hermione’s renewed scowl and Sirius’s attempted look of innocence as he finished his cigarette and vanished the end. 

“Is there anything you need for tonight?” Draco asked as they all stood up and drained their glasses. 

“No. But thank you for the offer.” Sirius said, shaking Theo and Draco’s hands and then turning to hug Hermione, “your support means a lot to both of us. For the record, our floo is always open to all three of you, this evening and future full moons aside, though.”

Draco and Theo both nodded their thanks, and they all headed back inside to finally make their way back through the floo to Hogwarts.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, we now have a Facebook group, come and join us at Phoenix of slytherin and Champagne and literature for sneak peaks, artwork and hopefully lots more… I will confess to it being a bit quiet in there this week due to real life craziness getting in the way on my part, but come and have a look anyway, (if you’d like to :-) ) we do have some plans lol!!


	6. Quidditch and Reassurances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone and sorry this is a day late, last week was rather hectic!! 
> 
> This is another chapter that needs a little smut warning with it.... if you coped with the last one though, this one will be just fine lol!!
> 
> Thank you times a million as always to champagneandliterature, your wonderful alpha and beta skills are very much appreciated.
> 
> I'll try and get the next chapter out on Saturday, so until then have a lovely week.... and enjoy!!

A violent storm lashed at Hogwarts castle on Sunday morning. The miserable weather was a sharp contrast to the sunshine that Hermione, Theo, and Draco had enjoyed in London the day before. Today, the wind howled loudly, and the rain blew in horizontally, threatening to soak anyone who ventured outside within seconds. Hermione looked up from her breakfast and gazed in horror at Harry and Ron as they both entered the Great Hall wearing Quidditch robes. “You can’t seriously be going to train in this?” she asked, looking through the windows with a frown.

Harry looked as if he was in two minds about doing so himself. “It’s good practice to fly in these conditions. None of us want to be weather flyers,” he said bracingly as Hermione grimaced.

“You’re crazy!” She looked around the tables accepting that he was serious, as were the other members of the eighth year teams. Lavender had just finished braiding Parvati’s hair into a tight French plait and was moving on to do the same for Ginny. Lavender passed Luna the tail comb she was using, and Luna took it, wordlessly gazing out at the rain and looking worried herself. 

“Morning, beautiful,” Draco greeted Hermione with a swish of green robes and a kiss, and she looked at him aghast. “What's wrong?”

“You! All of you, going flying in this storm! I don’t want any of you to get hurt or to be blown off your brooms!”

Draco just laughed and helped himself to a slice of toast. As Hermione looked up, she was shocked to see the amount of suspicious and hostile looks being aimed at him by some of the younger Gryffindors at the table. Clearly, divisions in the magical world still ran deep. 

Theo hardly helped the matter by pulling her to him for a heart stopping kiss. He released her, made eye contact with as many scowling faces as possible, and then turned and kissed Draco in the same showy manner. “Please be careful,” Hermione said, choosing to ignore his act of direct provocation.

“Come and watch us if you’re worried,” Theo said while ignoring the clamour of shocked muttering that he had just caused. “It's dry in the stands, and some of the other girls are going. You can cast a warming charm and sit and chat and do whatever girls do in this kind of situation.” He gave her another kiss, much to the annoyance of the now openly disapproving Gryffindors, “you’ll worry less if you can see that we’re okay.”

Hermione seriously doubted this to be accurate, but nevertheless, she soon found herself wrapped up warmly, sitting under a blanket in the drafty stands with Luna, Lavender, Millie, Daphne, Tracy, and Pansy, watching the multi-colored blur of players swooping through the driving rain. She sat back in her chair, half listening to the chatter around her and half watching the skills and flight practice. Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded, suddenly cutting through her daydream and startling Luna, who shuffled a little closer so that they could talk more privately.

“How are things with you, Hermione?” Luna asked, pulling her blonde hair out of her scarf. 

“Good.” She smiled, “You?”

Luna nodded with a dreamy smile. “Very good, thank you. I haven't said a lot all through this game so far, but I'm delighted that you asked me to play.”

“I thought it was Ginny who pestered you until you gave in, the same as she did to me,” Hermione said with a smile.

  
  
“Well, yes, it was mostly her, I suppose, but Ginny would have played with or without me, you know what she’s like. You wanted me to do it with you because you were worried about doing it by yourself, and that’s why I agreed to get involved.”

“Well…. Yes, that is true.” Hermione frowned, wondering again how Luna seemed to understand such delicate things so naturally. “So you're getting on well with Parvati then?” Hermione asked.

Luna’s answering smile was huge, and she nodded happily. “I am. And not just because of the game. I’d like her even if we weren’t playing for points. I'm hoping that it’s not just about the game for her as well. I’m hoping that she likes me too.”

Hermione sighed. Once again, Luna had managed to pick up on her own feelings before she had even known that she had them. “I feel the same about Draco and Theo actually,” she confided. “I don't want it to be a quick fling or something that’s just for the game either. My feelings are too strong for that.”

“Girls,” Lavender said, shuffling slightly closer, “I’m sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying. Is that really what you both think?”

“It’s a concern of mine.” Luna admitted, twirling one of her feather earrings, “but I’m hoping that I’m wrong. Parvati doesn’t seem the kind of girl who would use someone in that way.”

Lavender nodded. “She’s not. I think you should speak to her and tell her what's bothering you, but I’ll say this, Parvati's my best friend, and I’ve never seen her as happy as she is right now.” Luna smiled, and Hermione sighed, hoping that the same was true for Draco and Theo. 

“It was a big thing for Parvati to pair with you, Luna,” Lavender continued, “she hadn’t admitted her sexuality before, and it took a lot of guts for her to do so. Her parents are rather conservative, and she wouldn’t have risked their disapproval if all she wanted to do was play a game.” Lavender reached for Luna’s hand and squeezed it as Luna’s eyes glossed with unshed tears. “Dean and I had this same conversation in the domes too,” Lavender continued, “I’ll tell you both because he said it’s okay for me to tell certain people, and I know you two would be on his list. He told me he’s gay. We both fully expected to be disqualified from the game when we got back to the common room, but we weren't, and we still aren't. I  think that this game is about more than just finding a quick shag with somebody new.” Lavender paused and fiddled with the long flowing skirt she was wearing. “Relationships formed in this game seem to last. That's what Seamus told me anyway. He went to Harry’s Godfather’s a couple of weekends ago, and they all spoke about it there.”

“Well yes, I suppose that’s true,” Hermione agreed thoughtfully, “I mean Sirius and Remus paired up in the game, so did James and Lily, after a fashion anyway.” Hermione thought briefly about Alice Longbottom and Severus Snape but quickly dismissed that notion. There had to be some pairings that didn't work out each year. 

“I think the game is less about romantic intentions and all out shagging, and more about forming meaningful relationships,” Lavender paused as she looked fondly out over the pitch, “and those kinds of friendships are the ones that last forever.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“I feel like a drowned rat,” Theo grumbled as Hermione, Luna, Lavender, Millie, and Pansy followed the dripping players into the changing rooms an hour later. “I can’t feel my fingers. My toes froze off several hours ago, and I will violently hex anyone who gets in between me and a scorching shower right now. You have all been warned.”

Hermione laughed as she stepped pointedly out of his way, “Not you.” He reached for her and pulled her firmly back into his arms, “I’ll not hex you whatever the circumstances.”

“You're soaking!” Hermione squealed as he took her face in both of his icy hands and kissed her firmly on the mouth. He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked, “give me a moment to get cleaned up, and I’ll be saying that to you,” he paused and lowered his voice, “when you're naked and trapped underneath me in my bed.”

It was unfortunate, really, Hermione supposed, that Pansy just happened to be passing with an equally rain-drenched Harry at that precise moment. Harry clapped his hands over his ears, looking horrified and Pansy gave a delighted squeak. “Alright, Potter?” Theo said with a grin

“I will be as soon as I’ve scourigified that image out of my brain,” Harry grumbled, with a grudging smile as he made his way towards the showers with Pansy still following. 

Half an hour later, when Draco and Theo were both cleaned up and back in the warm and dry common room, there was still no sign of Harry and Pansy. “Shagging in the shower,” Draco said, leading the way into the Slytherin boys dorms, “They were right next door to me as well. It was most off putting.” 

“Really?” Theo fixed him with a grin, “goodness, that sounds very distressing. Here, let me take your mind off it.” He turned Draco around to face him, and Hermione settled onto the bed, sitting back to watch them kiss. What started as soft, light and easy kisses quickly turned much heavier, and soon they were both lost in each other. Theo fisted his hands into  Draco’s silky, wet hair, and Draco moved his hands under Theo’s shirt. Both of them fought for dominance, although it wasn’t long before Draco gave in with an affected chuckle. Theo walked him backward until the back of his knees bumped into the bed, and Draco sat down and wriggled toward the headboard. Theo crawled forwards over the top of him and nudged his legs apart with his thigh. Draco’s hand reached out for Hermione, and Theo groaned as Draco invited her to join them. “You like to watch, beautiful?” 

Hermione’s mouth was dry, and her voice strained as she answered vaguely, “mhmm.” 

“Good.” Theo pulled Draco’s top up and over his head and waited for him to lay back down before starting to kiss his neck and shoulders. He reached for Hermione’s hand and guided it onto Draco’s chest, then moved down the bed and took one of Draco’s nipples into his mouth and motioned for Hermione to do the same with the other. 

Draco made a faint noise at the feel of both of them kissing him at the same time. Hermione moved around to get comfortable, and when she felt Theo’s hand close on the back of her neck, she released Draco’s nipple and looked up, finding herself instantly lost in Theo’s sensuous kiss. “Are you still sore from Wednesday night?” he asked. 

“Not at all,” she said, shaking her head.

“Good,” he kissed her again and then returned his attention to Draco, kissing his way lower and trying to undo the button on his jeans with his spare hand. When that didn’t work, Theo just screwed his eyes shut to concentrate and vanished the rest of Draco’s clothes magically. 

“That’s quite impressive wandless magic, you know,” Hermione said with a smile.

Theo chuckled, “Next time you’re worrying about my missed assignments, just remember that I’m better at the non-academic side of things.” He kissed her again, and she moaned into his mouth. “I use my spare time to study the things I want to be good at after all.” Theo took her hand and guided it onto Draco’s cock, and he hissed in response. Theo closed her fingers around his hard length and started to guide her hand into the right rhythm, making Draco moan loudly. After a few strokes, Theo took his hand away, leaving Hermione to continue on her own.

It was surprisingly easy to work out what Draco liked, she let his responses guide her and her arousal grew even further as she watched his reactions. Theo leaned down and kissed him long and slow, then tweaked his nipple and smiled at the shudder Draco gave in response. 

After a moment, Theo started to press a trail of kisses down Draco’s body, and by the time he reached his belly button, Draco was writhing on the bed underneath his tongue. Theo gently eased Hermione’s hand away, moved lower still, and ran his tongue all the way up Draco’s erection, making it twitch in response. Hermione gasped and moved back to watch as Theo took Draco’s cock in his hand and swirled his tongue around the very tip.

Draco grabbed at the bedsheets, bunching and twisting them in his hands as he rolled his head from side to side, drew his knees up, and clenched his toes on the bed. Theo chuckled darkly and took Draco further into his mouth, sucking him in and out a few times to tease him and then leaning down to slowly take almost everything in. Hermione’s eyes bugged wide as Theo paused and then swallowed the very last inch. 

Hermione watched, wondering how it was physically possible to do such a thing. Draco just lifted his hips from the bed and thrust gently into Theo’s mouth with a whimper. Theo held him there for a moment and then pulled back to take a deep breath before repeating the move a couple more times. When he pulled off entirely, Draco moaned his protest, but Theo just motioned for Hermione to take over instead. “Not so deep, just take as much as you’re comfortable with,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

Hermione nodded. She was so turned on that it was almost uncomfortable. She let Theo guide her into position, and she stared down at Draco feeling slightly nervous. “I’m so fucking close right now,” Draco muttered, “are you sure you want to do this?”

Hermione nodded, taking him in her hand and kissing experimentally all around him as Theo had done. She flicked her tongue over the slit, licking at a small white bead of pre-come and finding its taste to be salty and not at all unpleasant. She carefully took the head into her mouth and felt Draco’s whole body tense as she moved her mouth lower. “Fuck, Hermione,” Draco gasped as she sucked a little harder, enjoying the reactions she was getting from both boys. She leaned down, feeling Draco bump against the back of her throat and wondering how Theo had swallowed him the way he had. She moved her head up and down, and Draco gasped.

“He’s gonna come,” Theo told her, “pull off now if you don’t want him to do it in your mouth.” Wondering what it would feel and taste like, Hermione did the exact opposite. She leaned down and buried Draco as deeply as she could in her mouth and was rewarded with a low, guttural groan. 

“Oh, Gods!” She wasn’t even sure which one of them uttered it, but her eyes bulged wide as Draco came, and her mouth was suddenly filled with warm liquid. “Suck then swallow,” Theo said, sounding hugely affected himself, and she did as he suggested, her eyes watering with the effort of not gagging. When Draco eventually relaxed, she released him gently and looked at them both rather shyly. 

Draco just stared at her as he exhaled loudly, while Theo looked ready to devour her. “Have you ever done that before?” Theo asked, and she shook her head, licking her lips and swallowing against the slightly irritating feeling at the back of her throat. 

“Jesus, love,” Theo just groaned and sighed, “You’re perfect.”

She laughed and looked at Draco as he pushed himself up onto his elbows to stare at them both in wonder. “I think I just died and went to heaven,” he said, and Theo smiled wickedly as Draco moved up the bed and out of the way.

Theo smiled at Hermione as he took her hand. “What about it then, love, you and me?”

Her answering smile was wide as she took in his handsome face and nodded, “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Oh baby, I'll ask you anytime you like. Come here.” She moved towards him, and he leaned down to brush his lips over hers. “Watching you suck Draco off just now was about the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life.” he kissed her again. “What do you want to do with me now?”

His eyes were visibly darkening as he watched her. “Everything.” She sank her teeth into her bottom lip and shivered as various possibilities ran through her brain. “I’ve been thinking about being with you ever since you gave me that first massage in my bed. Come get me, Theo.”

“Oh, holy hell.” He rolled over and kissed her hard, pulling her closer and demanding her submission the same way she had seen him do to Draco. She yielded to him instantly, and he inhaled slowly through his nose, clearly fighting to stay in control. With another muttered spell, all of their remaining clothes disappeared, and she felt his toned body press deliciously into hers. His fingers played with her nipples, teasing and stroking each one until they were throbbing with tingling pulses of pleasure. She gasped as his fingers slipped lower, splaying out across her stomach and then moving lower still until they glided gently through her silken folds. Theo quirked a brow, “I told you you'd be soaking wet for me, didn't I?” 

She whimpered and kissed his neck, sucking experimental love bites into his skin and making him gasp. “Oh Gods, there, right there. Harder.” She bit down, and he bucked against her, pressing into her and moaning loudly. His finger slipped inside her, and she mewled, moving into him as he curled it, and his knuckle brushed against her sensitive back wall. His thumb flicked over her clit, and she moaned again, feeling her climax building. “One more finger,” Theo whispered, gently adding another to the one that was already inside her. “Relax and tell me if anything hurts.” 

She nodded, but it wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest. She sighed with pleasure at the blissful feeling of fullness and the insistent brushing tease of his thumb still on her clit. His other hand played with her nipples, and she leaned up to kiss his mouth, losing herself to the insistent rhythm he set and coming hard against his fingers. 

When she’d calmed again, he brought her hand around to his cock. He was thicker than Draco, but not quite as long. His silky smooth skin felt the same, though, and she stroked her hand up and down, loving the reactions she found she could pull out of him.

After a moment, he stilled her hand and rolled over so that he was straddling her. “Are you sure?” he asked as he lowered his hips and stroked himself against her. 

He felt like fire against her still sensitive skin, and she yelped in surprise. “Yes. Totally.”

He nodded, “I'll be gentle.” 

“I know you will.” She stared into his blue eyes as he lined himself up and slipped carefully inside. His gaze was intense, and he paused every few moments to let her adjust to his size. Each time he stilled, he brushed a kiss over her lips, and when he was fully seated inside her, he started to move, slowly, in and out, kissing her reverently with each tentative thrust. “You can move more than that. I won’t break.”

His eyebrows twitched at the challenge, and he picked up the pace a little. “I’m being a gentleman right now.”

She laughed, and he thrust slightly more demanding, “Then bloody well don’t be.”

His eyes fluttered shut on a sigh, and he snapped his hips, pushing much harder and deeper inside her. She cried out and lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist, and he finally moved at the pace and pressure that she wanted. “Why not?” He opened his eyes and kissed her again. “Do you think you might like it dirty?”

“Yes,” she asserted as her eyes closed and her body arched up underneath him. She gasped as he thrust harder. “I think I might. I want you to try it.”

“You want me to make you scream?”

“Yes!” 

“How loud?”

“Theo,” she gasped, remembering his fantasy from last week, and she opened her eyes to find him staring down at her in wonder, “please Theo.”

She was dimly aware of Draco casting a silencing spell, and then she abruptly lost all of her senses. Theo thrust his hips forwards and plunged desperately into her, and she cried out as her orgasm crested, shattering her into a million pieces underneath him. She clenched hard around him, and his breath left his body in a big rush as he came equally hard inside her. Her walls fluttered deliciously, and white-hot shocks of pleasure coursed through her whole body. When Theo finally relaxed again, he dipped his forehead down to rest against hers, and she opened her eyes, smiling and feeling dazed.

“Of all the words to choose….” he said with a smile as he lifted his head and stroked her hair back from her cheek, “it had to be ‘please Theo.’”

“I remembered what you told me in your fantasy Wednesday evening,” she said as they both tried to catch their breath.

“So I see.” He propped himself up and gently removed himself from her, then picked up Draco’s wand and used it to cast a cleaning spell over them both. You're perfect, Hermione. Same goes for you, too, blondie. Come here.” Without a word Draco moved down the bed and they snuggled down together under the duvet. 

“Are you okay?” Draco asked, wrapping an arm around her as she traced the lines of Theo’s tattoos thoughtfully with a finger. 

“I’m more than okay, thank you,” she said with a smile, “In fact, I’m perfect.” Despite her words, something was bothering her, though. Luna and Lavender’s words from that morning were still circling in her head.

“What’s wrong love?” Draco asked gently, and she sighed. He was more perceptive than she had thought. 

“It’s just something that Luna mentioned earlier,” she admitted, “and It’s been bugging me ever since.” There was silence as she wondered how to word what she wanted to say, and both Draco and Theo waited patiently until she was ready. “Umm…. well, you see, Luna really likes Parvati, and she thinks that the feeling is mutual,” she paused, focusing on the place where the time tuner on Theo’s arm morphed into a clock. There was a date attached to the clock, and she wondered what the significance of it was.

“And?” Theo prompted, watching her curiously, 

“Well, Luna was worried that Parvati was only with her because of the game. We’ve been playing it for two full weeks now, and I guess they’re developing stronger feelings for each other.”

Draco nodded, “and you're worried that we only want you for the game as well?” he asked, and she nodded, closing her eyes against the sudden and unwelcome threat of tears.

“I wouldn’t put it quite like that-” she protested weakly.

“Hermione,” Theo’s voice was low and soft as he cut her off. “The game does what it’s meant to do, and I think it’s a damn good invention. Sirius and I were talking about it when we were in the garden yesterday. The four of them invented it because Sirius wanted to get into Remus’s pants, James was after Lily, and Peter had his eye on someone too. They invented it as a means to an end, as a way to get them together with the partners they fancied. The relationships mostly lasted longer than the game that year, and so the game became redundant. Some years the game is abandoned halfway through because none of the pairs want to play it anymore, some years, they just keep playing it to use its weekly prompts. The game is a catalyst for starting relationships, nothing more.”

“I don’t think this is about the game for either of us anymore,” Draco said, tightening his fingers on her arm. “That’s if it ever was. Why do you think that almost everyone got magically paired up with someone they really liked? It’s all in the magic.”

Hermione frowned, “so you mean it’s designed to play on people’s desires and to give them a chance together?”

“Yep.” Theo smiled, “Why do you think Ginny paired up with Blaise, Hannah with Greg, Luna with Parvati? It’s too neat and perfect if it’s not designed to be that way.”

“Why did Dean not pair with Seamus then?” she asked in confusion.

“Because when people sign up for it, they state their sexual preferences. Mixed sex, same sex, or multi sex. Both Dean and Seamus asked for opposite sex partners. Draco and I ticked everything for a reason.”

Hermione was quiet for a moment as she processed this new information. “So you wanted me before we were paired up?”

“Since fourth year,” Draco admitted, and she gasped in shock.

“Since about sixth year when I noticed you had breasts.” Theo grinned cheekily, lightening the suddenly serious mood. “Neither of us wants you purely for the game Hermione,” He said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. Not at the start of it all and certainly not now. Now, stop worrying and have a nap before the meeting tonight.”

“Okay.” She settled down as her fears settled, and she knew, without understanding how, that they were both telling her the truth.


	7. How Dare They?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi…. and happy Saturday everybody!!  
> Here we are then, I got the update out on time this week!! Thank you again for the Kudos and comments (ao3) and the follows and reviews (fanfiction,) every single one of them make me smile and write faster!!
> 
> Thank you champagneandliterature for your wonderful alpha/beta work and skills, I appreciate all the help you give me.
> 
> Until next week then….. I hope you all enjoy the update!

Sunday evening’s game meeting was much shorter than the previous ones had been. Because they were two weeks into the game and already three couples had been disqualified or had left through choice, nobody was voted out by the game’s magic, and the only task was for Theo to announce the theme for the coming week; Skills Exchange.

The idea behind this was that each member of a pair would teach their counterpart something new, thereby increasing everyone’s skill base and hopefully bonding each pair closer together. “What are you going to get Draco and Theo to teach you?” Ginny asked Hermione once the meeting had finished. Both girls had retreated to the Gryffindor boys dormitory for some time alone with Harry and Ron. Although the last two weeks had been lovely, Hermione had found that she was missing the tight-knit bond the four of them had formed during the time between the war ending and their return to Hogwarts, and a private catch up was long overdue. 

Hermione and Ginny were lying on Ron’s bed, with Ron and Harry sitting opposite on Harry’s. It felt calm and comforting to talk like this, and it reminded Hermione of summer evenings at the Burrow when they had all retreated to Ginny’s room to chat, closeted away privately from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the house.

Hermione blushed as some rather X-rated thoughts ran through her mind. “Wait a moment,” Harry held up a hand, “I’m still traumatized by what I overheard Theo say to you earlier ‘Mione, Do I want to hear your ideas if the mere thought of them has you blushing like this?”

Hermione fixed him with a teasing grin, “well, since I happen to know  _ exactly _ what you and Pansy got up to in the showers directly after you both eavesdropped on  _ us,  _ I don’t think you’re in any position to hold the moral high ground here, Harry Potter.”

Harry had the good grace to flush, and Ron stared at Hermione slightly agog. “What the hell did you do in the showers, mate?” he asked, turning his blue eyes to stare at Harry instead.

Ginny’s grin was huge as Hermione giggled, “Draco heard you, did you know?”

“Were you and Pansy shagging in the showers?” Ginny laughed at Harry’s mortification, “Damn, why didn’t Blaise and I think of that?! And anyway, Harry, you’ve changed.” She softened her eyes and regarded him thoughtfully. “You were never like this with me. No, wait a sec,” she waved a hand to hush him gently and watched him intently, “I’m not jealous or being weird here, I promise, I’m just concerned about you. Pansy seems to be bringing out a side of you that we never knew existed, and I just want to know that you’re okay with that.”

Hermione blinked at Ginny’s directness but didn’t protest her sentiments. She had been wondering the same thing herself. Harry stared back at Ginny for a moment as the heat left his cheeks, and he smiled. “You’re right, Gin. I think it’s similar to what Remus said yesterday. We never had the chance to be young and carefree, did we? I guess that now the responsibility of saving the world has gone, this side of my personality can come out more. And yes, Pansy does dare me to do things that I wouldn’t normally do, but I quite like it.” He paused to grin wickedly, “we knew full well Draco was next to us in the showers, that’s why we did it. He’s Pansy’s ex, and he’s well, he’s Malfoy, isn’t he? We both wanted to wind him up a bit. What did he say?”

“Not a lot in all honesty,” it was Hermione’s turn to flush at her memories now, “Theo didn’t give him a chance before he, well... let’s just say we took Draco’s mind off of it quite well.”

Despite his bravado, Harry pulled a disgruntled face as he nodded, “anyway, Gin, to be fair, you seem to be doing some fairly wild things with Blaise, so the same question goes to you. Are you happy with him?”

Ginny’s smile said it all as she nodded happily. “What about you, Ron? Are you happy with Millicent?”

“Yes. I am,” he said with an equally satisfied smile. He turned to Hermione without elaborating any further either, “so you and they, you’ve? I mean, with both of them?” 

Hermione nodded. “Don’t you talk about this during your boys' nights?” she asked, laughing as Ron’s obvious discomfort warred with his curiosity, and he ended up pulling a rather confused face.

“To a degree.” Harry said, “but we stray onto sport and other things more often than not, and no one goes into too much detail about the finer points of their relationships.” 

“Oh, we go into great detail on our side of the room,” Ginny laughed, “Very descriptive detail. Don’t we Pans?” she looked up as Pansy opened the door and stared at them all with a frown. “What’s up?”

“Every time I see my boyfriend near one of you lot, you're all lolling about in bed together,” she teased, not looking at all angry as she crossed the room and ruffled Harry’s already wild hair. “I know he’s irresistible and all, but still, he’s mine. Can I join you?” Harry just laughed and took her hand, nodding as he pulled her down to sit between him and Ron. “It’s skills exchange week then Potter, what are you going to teach me?”

Harry turned and nuzzled his face into her sleek black hair. “What do you want to learn?”

“How to cast one of those shiny silver Patronus things that you're so good at.” She grinned as Harry agreed. “What do you want me to teach you?”

Ron raised an eyebrow as Ginny mimed throwing up over the side of the bed, and Hermione laughed. “How to dance properly,” Harry said after a moment’s thought. “You’ve invited me to your parent’s Yule Ball, and I don’t want to make a fool of myself in a room full of purebloods who can all dance a proper waltz.”

Pansy looked at him happily as Ginny and Hermione exchanged looks of disbelief with Ron. “You're on, handsome,” Pansy said, leaning forwards to seal the deal with a kiss. 

“What’s Blaise good at?” Ginny asked, clearly attempting to bring the conversation back onto more familiar ground. It seemed that she, Hermione, and Ron were all struggling to process the fact that Harry Potter had just willingly asked for classical dance lessons from Pansy Parkinson. “Apart from the obvious, I mean,” Ginny added, still looking disconcerted by Harry’s request. 

“Art,” Pansy said after a moment more of staring soppily at Harry. “Ask him to teach you how to draw. You won’t draw anything of note, but you’ll be a quivering mess in moments. It’s the way he describes things and the way he sits behind you and guides your arm.” She cleared her throat as Harry pulled a face, “just,” Pansy shivered, grinning back at Harry, “yeah. Just ask him.”

Ginny nodded. “Gotcha. What about you, Hermione? Ron?”

“Karate.” Pansy said, giggling at Ron’s confusion, “Millie. She’s a black belt, which is apparently pretty good. It’s a muggle self-defense sport.” Pansy clarified, and Ron nodded. “As for you, Granger, oh Gods! The possibilities there!”

Hermione blushed, “I was going to ask Draco to teach me how to fly,” she said, trying to ignore Harry’s stunned look of outrage.

“I’ve been offering to teach you to fly for years!” he complained, and Pansy put a consoling hand on his knee. 

“I know you have, and I’m really sorry, Harry. It’s nothing against you. It’s just that after flying to the domes and not feeling like my life was in peril, that I was about to fall off of a  dragon or be chased by murderous Death Eaters, flying actually turned out to be quite enjoyable. I didn't know I liked it.”

“Get Theo to take you into the forest and show you the unicorn then,” Pansy said. “He knows how to find them safely, and they are so beautiful.”

“What can I teach Millie?” Ron wondered aloud, making Pansy stare up at him appraisingly as she stretched out and lay down on her stomach between them both.

“How a man should treat a woman.” She said thoughtfully and then looked down at the bed covers. “Alright, Weasley, I know you and I have a past, but I have to admit you're a decent bloke. Millie, well, she’s never had a father figure in her life, and her mother was a bit unstable too, so she practically brought herself up. You can show her what family is. What it means to have someone that she can rely on.” She stared at Ron until he dropped his eyes, and she sighed. “And I think that’s enough sappiness from me, so before I make an even bigger fool of myself and admit that I might have been wrong about you in the past-”

“I'm sorry too, actually, Pansy.” Ron said, cutting her off, “I’m sorry for the nasty things I've said about you-” he broke off as a knock sounded at the door, “come in?”

The door opened to reveal Hannah, standing with tears streaming down her cheeks and Greg holding her hand while looking murderous. “Hannah!” Hermione, Ginny, and Pansy all jumped up and Hannah stumbled forwards into Ginny’s arms. “What’s wrong?”

“Have you been in your dorm tonight, Granger?” Greg asked as Hannah tried and failed to speak. The bottom dropped out of Hermione’s stomach as she saw the folded up piece of parchment clutched tightly in Hannah's hand. 

Slowly she shook her head. “No. We came straight in here for a chat after the meeting.” 

Greg nodded. “Someone needs to find Draco and Theo then. I’m not being held responsible if they find out about this from someone else and Draco hurls himself off the Astronomy Tower or Theo murders someone.” Greg prised the crumpled parchment out of Hannah’s hand and passed it to Harry. “These aren’t pretty, and if you’ve got one along the same lines, Hermione, then yours will be worse.”

Hermione frowned in confusion as Harry opened the folded parchment note. She gasped, It appeared to be a direct copy of the transcription of Greg’s Death Eater trial, a list of the crimes that he had been found guilty of, and the terms the Wizengamot had laid out for his probation. There was also a photograph showing him holding hands with Hannah outside what looked like the herbology greenhouses. The words “Death Eater’s Whore” were once again splashed across the moving picture in untidy red writing. 

“To make matters worse, I found this on my bed hangings, and these on Draco and Theo’s,” Greg said, holding out three more pieces of parchment. They showed both Hermione and Hannah’s family trees, with the muggle side of Hannah’s family highlighted and Hermione’s whole family underlined in red. The caption on Hannah’s read “Muggles and  half-bloods,” and Hermione’s simply said “Muggles.” “As if any of us bloody well care about this sort of thing now?!” Greg said crossly. 

“Where  _ are _ Draco and Theo?” Hermione asked as dread pooled low in her belly. She remembered the hatred that had been aimed at both of the boys at breakfast when they had stopped by the Gryffindor table, and her heart constricted with anger and grief that there was still this amount of discrimination in Hogwarts.

“I was hoping they were in here with you,” Greg said, as Hannah wiped her eyes and pulled herself together with a sniff. 

“We haven’t seen them since the meeting.” Hermione said, her stomach still churning in horror.

“Right. Let’s go and check your bed for notes, Hermione, and then let’s find them.” Pansy said, and they all hurried from the room. 

Hermione sighed deeply as she approached her bed. As predicted, pinned to the hangings were two sets of trial notes and two lists of criminal convictions, complete with their corresponding sentences. There was also a picture of Hermione, Draco, and Theo holding hands in what looked to be Hogsmede, and the now familiar words “Death Eater’s Whore” scrawled underneath the carefree image. Hermione sighed, torn between wanting to incinerate the parchment without even looking at it and reading it thoroughly to learn the specifics of the boy’s criminal records. 

“‘Mione,” Ginny put a hand on her arm, and Hermione realized she was shaking. She bit back furious tears as Ron took the parchments from her and raised his eyebrows. “Don’t read it,” Ginny advised Hermione gently, although she was surreptitiously glancing over Ron’s arm at the written notes herself.

“We need to find them,” Pansy said. “I can imagine what’s on there and-” she rubbed her forehead with her hand, “Harry, we need to find them now.” 

“Let’s go then. Wait here, girls.” Ginny tugged the parchment out of Ron’s hand as he turned to follow Harry and Pansy out of the dorms. 

“Let’s wait in our dorms instead.” Greg said, “I can guarantee it’s not any of us behind these notes. There’s only four of us in there, three of us have been targeted, and I'd stake my life on these not coming from Blaise.” Hermione nodded and blindly followed as he led her, Hannah, and Ginny into the Slytherin boy’s dorms. 

They all sat down on Greg’s bed, and Hermione unfolded the parchment with a sigh. “What do your notes say?” Hannah asked, and Hermione passed Theo’s transcripts to Ginny and looked at Draco’s one herself. 

After a moment, Hermione closed her eyes and let out a long sigh as she wiped away another tear. “It gives the date of his trial, the verdict, which was guilty of all charges, his sentence which was mostly suspended due to his age and mitigating circumstances,  namely being in fear of his life and certain crimes being committed under duress. Then there’s the actual list of crimes, and,” she covered her mouth with her hand and gasped, “Oh Gods!” she gave a choked sob, “It’s huge!”

  
“Don’t read anymore, ‘Mione,” Ginny advised, squeezing Hermione’s shoulder sympathetically as she continued to read Theo’s transcripts.

“I think it’s impossible not to.” Hannah said quietly, “I had to read Greg’s.”

Hermione nodded, feeling thoroughly sick as she glared at the long list of unforgivables that Draco had been found guilty of performing. She groaned as the dormitory door opened, and Blaise stepped inside. “At least there are no actual murders on here, I suppose,” she said, trying in vain to make light of the horrendous situation. “Two attempted ones, though, both missed aims apparently, and that doesn’t even count Dumbledore.” 

“I saw Harry, Pansy, and Ron in the common room,” Blaise said by way of explanation as he kissed Ginny hello. “I thought you spoke at Draco’s trial?” His face was unreadable as he took the note from Greg’s hand to read, “I thought you knew what he was accused of?”

“I spoke about the time we were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, and I vouched for him not identifying me to Bellatrix and Lucius when he could easily have done so. Also, I spoke about how he was fighting for our side during the Battle of Hogwarts. I’ve never seen a list of his crimes and accusations before,” Hermione admitted. 

Blaise nodded. “May I?” Hermione handed him the parchment, and the room fell silent as he read without a flicker of emotion. “Okay. Do you want my thoughts on this?”

“Yes, please,” Hermione said in a small voice. 

Blaise took a deep breath, “Imperious curse, Madam Rosmerta. Cursing Katie Bell. Poisoning Slughorn’s mead. Letting Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore. You know all about these crimes already. His and Narcissa’s lives were in danger, and this whole string of crimes was a desperate attempt at self preservation and the protection of his Mother. He was sixteen years old.”

Blaise paused and looked up as everyone nodded. “Then we have accusations of the use of the Imperious curse five more times, all with a guilty verdict. You have to ask yourself why he did that. Draco’s not one for controlling other people, Hermione. Personally, I’d say it was pure desperation again. Crucio, multiple counts, I don’t know the specifics of these exact spells either, but I’m telling you now, Draco hates hurting other people, and Crucio would not be his spell of choice. Greg, can you shed any light on these?”

Hermione turned, and Greg nodded. “When we were in D.E. meetings, the Dark Lord liked to see how we were doing with our training. He’d get us to Crucio each other to see how magically strong we were and how vicious we were willing to be. If we didn't comply, he’d use the same spell on us himself or get someone like Bellatrix or Dolohov to do it, and believe me, that was to be avoided at all costs. Myself, Draco, and Theo all learned pretty  quickly that taking each other’s Crucios was a hell of a lot better than the alternative. A lot of these were aimed at Theo and me, look, mine’s the same.”

Greg took his own list of crimes back from Blaise and held it out for Hermione to read. It was very similar to Draco’s, minus the sixth year crimes, and Hermione nodded, still feeling distinctly sick. She took Theo’s transcript from Ginny and read his similar detailed accusations. “Why wasn’t Theo marked?” she asked, not understanding why their crimes were so similar, and yet Theo had never received the Dark Mark. 

“He was going to be,” Blaise said, “but his father hid him and lied to the Dark Lord to protect him. He said that Theo had dragon pox and was near to death. If he recovered,” Blaise made air quotes with his fingers, “he was due to be marked straight away.” 

“Theo had exactly the same training that we did,” Greg agreed, “but the one decent thing his father did was getting him out of the marking ceremony.”

Hermione’s eyes finished scanning down the three lists of crimes and glanced back up at Greg. “Did any of you,” her eyes flickered to Blaise and back to Greg again, “I’m sorry to ask this, but I need to know, did any of you kill anyone? Ever?”

Greg held her eyes as he shook his head. “No. Not unless it was a side effect of a different curse used during the Battle of Hogwarts. None of us have ever used the Killing Curse effectively if that’s what you mean to ask.” Hermione nodded and took a deep breath before reaching out to take Hannah’s hand. 

“Then these don’t matter. Do they?” she swallowed hard and bit her trembling lip. “Nothing’s changed. You’re still the same people you were before someone pinned a vindictive bit of parchment to our curtains, aren’t you? You’ve all stood trial, and either served time, or are still serving probation for these crimes,” she wiggled the parchment in the air, “therefore debts to society have been, or still are being paid-”

She looked up with a jolt as the dormitory door banged open, and Theo stood silhouetted against the brighter light that flooded in from the common room. He stared at Hermione nervously, as if unsure of his reception, and she gazed back at him, seeing fear and doubt written all over his usually confident face. “What does it say?” his voice was quiet and unusually hesitant.

“It doesn’t matter what it says,” Hermione said fiercely as Pansy shoved them all further forwards into the room and closed the door. “It doesn't matter what any of them say. There’s nothing listed here that I didn't already suspect, and if anything, confronting it all like this just gets everything out in the open sooner. There are no secrets or unspoken truths between us anymore, I know the gritty details now, and in some ways, I'm glad that I do.”

“Same.” Hannah said bracingly, “if whoever did this was hoping to split us up, then they’ve failed. They’ve actually just brought us closer together.

“Look at your face Theo,” Hermione said gently as she stood up and walked towards him, “you're terrified. Do you think I'm going to reject you now that I’ve seen a list of your crimes?”

“Well, it wouldn't be an unreasonable thing if you did now, would it? There’ll be some really nasty crimes listed there. A lot of unforgivable curses, I’m guessing, too.” 

Hermione nodded. “There are, yes. But I think I've seen enough of you both over the last few weeks to know who you really are. So if you're not about to be put off by my less than pure wizarding genetics, I think I can cope with both of your rap sheets.”

Theo visibly sagged in relief as Hermione stepped closer. He closed the gap between them to wrap his arms around her and bury kisses into her hair. “Can I see your family tree?” Blaise held the parchment out to him, and Theo took it with a brave attempt at a smirk, “all I see on here is people, Hermione. People who’ve produced the girl with the biggest heart I’ve ever known. Do me a favor please?” she nodded as he pulled back and smiled down at her, “Go hug Draco, he’s fairing worse than me right now, he’s a nervous wreck.”

Hermione sniffed as she nodded and looked up to see Draco holding onto Pansy as if she was a lifeline. He froze as Hermione smiled gently at him. “Come here?” she invited, and he moved closer to her, still looking wary. “I spoke at your trial. You can’t possibly think this would put me off?”

He raised his eyebrows until they disappeared into his hair. “We all know you spoke about certain events at my trial. Not the details of the crimes. There’s attempted murder on there Hermione, three counts.”

“Two. They didn’t count Dumbledore. Why did your aim miss on the other two killing curses you tried to cast?” 

Draco sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking distraught, “because I couldn’t do it.  _ He _ was holding his wand to my Mother’s heart both times, so I had to try. I uttered the curse, but the thing with an Avada is it takes true intention to cast. You need to want to see the other person die cold heartedly. I flicked my wand away at the last possible moment, not that anything came out of it anyway because I just don’t have that intention inside of me. The spells that hit those particular prisoners came from other people, and the Dark Lord missed our little deception. Someone else shot the lethal curses for me, to protect me because he knew I couldn’t do it.” Draco strode away from her and paced the room by the window as Hermione covered her mouth with her hand in horror.

“Who?” she asked, her voice trembling with shock, “who did that for you?”

Draco spun with a bitter laugh, “does it matter?”

“I suppose not-” she faltered, and Theo stepped up to Draco, stilling him and turning him around to face Hermione.

“I think…. In this situation, it actually does matter,” he said.

Draco nodded grimly. “Fine. It was Theo’s Father. But it may as well have been me. I’m just as guilty.” 

If the Wizengamot had thought you guilty, they would have put you in prison.” Hermione said, her heart breaking for both of them.

“They did find me guilty. I was in Azkaban for nine months, Greg served six and Theo four.”

“And when the time was up, they let you out, right?” she asked, and he nodded. “How long did your fathers get?”

“Three years,” Draco said.

“Five,” Theo added

“Three,” Greg said.

Hermione sighed as her brain spun wildly. “You couldn’t help how you were born, any more than I can help my parents being muggles. It’s the same thing as Harry being branded as the Chosen One. He didn’t choose that himself either. Other people have decided all of our fates for us, and I think I’ve had enough of their interfering and meddling. Now quit hiding in the corridor Draco, I’m not changing my mind about wanting to be with you. Or you, Theo. Whoever wrote these notes has gone too far this time. This goes beyond glares at the breakfast table. They’ve pissed me off, and I’m going to find out who’s behind it all and bring them to justice. Whos with me?”

“Me!” Pansy said, and Ginny agreed. Harry nodded, as did Ron, Blaise, Theo, Greg, and finally, everyone in the room turned to stare at Draco.

“Alright!” he finally conceded with an incredulous laugh, “Merlin Granger, you're something when you're riled up, you know.” He finally relaxed as Hermione hugged him fiercely. “And I’m pretty glad you're on my side in all of this and not against me this time.”

“That’s better,” she said, nodding in satisfaction. “I’ve always found that I work best as part of a trio actually, don’t you agree, Ron? Harry?”

“I’d totally agree. And I’d also say that I’m bloody proud of you right now ‘Mione,” Ron said, and Harry nodded his agreement.

“I couldn’t have said that better myself.” Harry said, turning to face Theo and Draco, “good luck with her, you two. It looks like we're all in for a hell of a bumpy ride until this note writer is caught.” 

  
  



	8. Patronuses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I’m SO sorry this update is late!!! Things got a bit manic on the homeschooling front this week and my writing got rather behind. 
> 
> Ooooooh, so there’s been a few guesses as to who’s behind the notes….. I’m not going to give anything away on that just yet, I’m afraid lol!! 
> 
> Thank you sooooo much again for the reviews and comments. If anyone would like a little one-shot spin-off of any of the other pairings in this story, just let me know, and I’ll see what I can do! I’ve had a request for Pansy and Harry in the showers, so that will be the first one. Hopefully I’ll get it up and posted soon!!
> 
> Thank you to champagneandliterature for being the most amazing alpha/beta in the world….. your brilliance with answering all of my random questions is incredibly helpful, so thank you very much!!

Hermione, Hannah, and Ginny all decided to sleep in the Slytherin boys' dorms that night. For Ginny, this was nothing new. In fact, she claimed not to remember the last night she had spent in Gryffindor Tower, preferring to sleep with Blaise in the eighth years dorms instead. 

Hermione, Draco, and Theo chose Draco’s bed for themselves as it was hidden away in the corner of the room and therefore was the most private. After only one minor interruption from Lavender and Parvarti, who had heard about the latest notes and wanted to check that Hermione was okay, they all settled down in their pajamas with a cup of chamomile tea to chat and unwind after the emotional evening. 

Ginny and Blaise were the least affected by the notes, they soon retreated behind their bed hangings, reinforcing them with a solidly cast silencing spell as they bid everyone goodnight. Theo rolled his eyes then added a muffliato charm, and Hermione laughed as Greg added yet another silencing spell for good measure. Hannah and Greg retired next, and Hermione glanced at Draco as he failed to stifle a yawn. “Come on,” she put a gentle hand on his knee, “show me your bathroom, then let’s all go to bed.” 

Theo fell asleep first, and once he was snoring softly, Draco turned to face Hermione. “He’s more upset about these notes than he’s letting on you know,” he said sadly, “I’ve never known him just settle down and go to sleep like this, especially since you're here. You know what he’s like for pushing his luck.” 

Hermione nodded. “It’s lovely the way you both care so much for each other. Theo was more worried about you than himself earlier, and now you're worried about him. I meant what I said though, these notes, Draco are not putting me off. Whoever is sending them is only pushing us closer together.”

Draco hummed in agreement as he stroked a hand down her arm. “I agree. For the record, I don’t give a hang if you're the first witch born into your family in a thousand generations of muggles. I know I was wrong about all that blood superiority shit. You understand that, don’t you?”

Hermione nodded. “Yes, I do. Can I ask you a rather personal question, please?” Draco nodded as he held her in the dim moonlight, and she paused, thinking of the most delicate way to word what she wanted to ask. “Why did Theo’s Dad help you with the unforgivable curse you couldn’t cast? Were you very close to him?”

Draco smiled softly, “don’t sugar coat things, Hermione. Do you really mean to ask why it was Theo’s Dad who killed those prisoners for me, rather than my own?” 

“Well...”

Draco closed his eyes as his fingers stroked little circles on her arm. “You can ask me anything you want to know, and please don’t look so worried about it all. My father was in the dungeons at the time. He was kept out of the room by the Dark Lord so that he wouldn’t know what had happened until a lot later. It was the ultimate cruelty if you like. My father knew that one of two things would happen, either I would become a murderer, or I wouldn't be able to cast the spell, in which case my mother would surely die by the Dark Lord’s wand. Neither of those were things he wanted to see happen. Thoronus stepped in to help me, as he would have done for Theo. I like to think my father would have done the same had things been the other way around. The Dark Lord had no idea that our families were that close. I found out months later that it wasn’t me that flicked my wand away either. Someone else pulled it for me. A few older Death Eaters were protecting myself, Theo, and Greg, and they all landed longer stints in Azkaban for it. It hardly seems fair.”

Hermione frowned. “That doesn’t sound fair at all. Can I ask who moved your wand?”

“I’ll give you one guess.” Draco opened his eyes as Hermione watched him.

“Severus Snape?” He nodded. “Your Godfather?”

“Yes.” 

“Oh, Draco.” Hermione snuggled into him as a tear slid from his eye and ran down onto the pillow. “You really went through a lot together, didn’t you? You, Theo, and Greg?” 

He nodded. “Yeah, we did. Vince Crabbe too, but unfortunately, he bought into it all. So did Greg up to a point. More so than Theo or I did at least, but Greg also came around very quickly when we got away.” He paused, staring at a point on the other side of the room  as if caught up in memories. “You’re right. We went through a lot. Which is why I hate this note writer bringing it all back now.”

“Why don't you try looking at things another way?” Hermione asked, trying her best to brighten his melancholy mood, “we’re all closer now than we would have been if we hadn’t talked about all of this, and we wouldn’t have talked about it if not for the notes.”

“I'll probably be able to think like that tomorrow.” Draco agreed, “it's all a bit raw for me to be philosophical about right now.”

“Let’s go to sleep then,” Hermione said as she felt Theo nestle closely in against her other side, holding on to her as if he was scared she was going to leave while he slept. “Tomorrow is another day.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


And indeed it was. The day in question was bright, sunny, and freezing cold, perfect conditions for learning to fly. Once school lessons had finished for the day, Hermione stood on the quidditch pitch with Ron’s broom held nervously in her hand. Draco, Theo, Ginny, and Blaise were beside her, stamping their feet and muttering mutinously about the cold. 

Hermione eyed the innocent looking broomstick suspiciously as Draco mounted his broom beside her. Harry had offered her the use of his Firebolt, but she had declined. She didn't think that having her first proper flying lesson on a world class racing broom was a good idea. Ron’s Nimbus, while still, an excellent model, was going to be far more forgiving of any mistakes she might make. 

She was grateful when Blaise, Ginny, and Theo kicked off into the air and soared straight up into the heavens to practice their own maneuvers. Hermione settled herself carefully over the handle of Ron’s broom, and Draco showed her how to hover a couple of feet off the ground while he kept pace beside her. 

Flying proved to be considerably less scary than Hermione had thought it would be. Draco talked her through the basics, and she managed to move, stop, hover, and turn successfully. She wobbled as he taught her how to gain height, and she found landing to be a positively terrifying experience, but when she was in the air, she thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of freedom that flying gave her.

As she landed for the final time, Draco smiled proudly, and she turned to grin at him, flushed with her success. She handed Ron his Nimbus back then thanked him with a kiss to the cheek as Draco lifted a brow and patted the handle of his own broom in silent invitation. 

“Okay, but if you go upside down, I swear I’ll never fly with you again.” She eyed the mischief that was written all over his face with slight trepidation as she settled herself comfortably in front of him and nestled back into his arms. 

“No upside down flying. Gotcha.” Draco said in a way that didn’t fill her with confidence, and she yelped as he kicked off into the sky, accelerating upwards with the speed of a rocket. Pansy waved from the front of Harry’s broom, and Hermione grinned in return as Draco sped through the rapidly darkening sky with Theo on their tail. 

Flying on Draco’s broom was just as exhilarating as it had been the time they had flown back from the domes. In the air with him, she felt free and as if they had left her worries on the ground the moment they took off. She especially loved not being in control of the broom. Handing that over left her free to fully enjoy the experience without worrying about anything else. Draco laughed when she told him as such, they spiraled lazily back down from a great height, and he wrapped his arm more securely around her. “Is it just flying that makes you feel that way?” he asked, as his lips tickled her ear and made her shiver.

“What do you mean?” she asked as Ginny swooped past them, racing Blaise and winning by more than a full broom length, even against his sleek Italian racing broom. 

“Well, for a lot of people flying is a very sensual thing. I was wondering if your preference for surrendering control tips over into other sensual areas?” 

“Are you talking about sex?” 

He gave a low chuckle as she turned to face him. “Yes.” 

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Although, Theo’s dirty talk made me want to find out.”

Draco moved her hair out of the way and kissed her neck as he gained height, soaring upwards again until they were dizzyingly high. Ron and Millicent were flying more sedately a long way beneath them, and Milli shrieked nearly as loudly as Hermione did when Draco suddenly dropped out of the sky and pulled up neatly beside them. 

“We don’t normally see you up in the sky Millie?” he said conversationally as if he hadn’t just frightened the living daylights out of her. 

She smiled in reply. “Apparently, if you're with the right person, the sky is a nice place to be.” 

“Is that right?” Draco asked as he swooped away with Hermione to race an incoming post owl. The surprised creature just hooted crossly at him, and he laughed. “Oi, Nott, is it too late to find the unicorn now?”

“Yes.” Theo pulled a face, “I know I like a little adventure, but walking into the Forbidden Forest at night is akin to a death sentence, mate. Dawn is the time to do it, just after the sun rises and the monsters go to bed.”

“Okay. It looks like it’s your turn to teach us how to cast a Patronus then Hermione. Neither of us have ever managed to cast anything with that spell before, though, so teaching the pair of us might be a tough ask.”

“Of course it won’t be,” Hermione asserted, feeling as if she could cast the strongest Patronus in the world right now, the exhilaration of flying was so powerful. “Let’s go grab dinner before we miss it. Then we’ll have a go.”

“Then can we explore the handing over of control during sex?” Draco asked hopefully, laughing as Theo chose that moment to swoop back beside them.

“Just a mo,” Theo chirped, flying by their side, “who’s wanting to explore handing over control during sex?”

Hermione blushed and giggled as Draco kissed the back of her neck again. “Hermione prefers flying when one of us is in control. I asked if she feels the same about sex. She’s curious to find out.”

“Oh, is she?” Theo said, giving her a very affected look indeed, “you just let me know when you want to figure that one out, sweetheart.” He nosed his broom close enough to kiss her, and Draco pulled the handles close enough that she could carefully swing a leg over Theo’s broom. They both helped her into position, and when they were sure she was safe, Draco dropped away and twirled into a series of death defying corkscrews, leaving her wrapped up securely in Theo’s arms in the middle of the dark sky. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


After the latest round of notes, a number of eighth years were making a point of sitting together at meals, making up several mixed house groups at the usually house specific tables. Tonight at dinner, Hermione settled herself between Draco and Theo, and opposite Harry and Pansy at the Slytherin table, Luna and Millie joined Parvati, Dean, Lavender, Ron, and the other Gryffindors, while Greg slid in next to Hannah with the Hufflepuffs. 

Despite Hermione’s concern, their efforts caused a complete lack of reaction at the Slytherin table. Everyone just settled down to eat as though nothing untoward was happening at all. In fact, the ones giving Hermione, Draco, and Theo the most attention were Daphne, her younger sister Astoria and Theo’s ex-girlfriend, Tracy Davis. 

“What’s up, Daph?” Theo asked, spotting them staring. Astoria looked a little upset, and although Hermione didn’t know her, she always hated to see people in tears.

“Nothing,” Daphne replied, looking slightly troubled, “It’s just… well, don’t you think you're asking for trouble all sitting here together like this? I mean, it's lovely to have you, Hermione, Harry, don’t get me wrong, but if the note writer is trying to split you up, aren't you just provoking them by being so open?”

“That’s exactly what we’re doing.” Pansy said, waving her fork in the air fiercely, “let whoever wrote those evil notes take this as a slap in the face.”

Daphne smiled, although she still looked concerned. “Let’s hope they recognize that then. I’m glad you're not put off by the notes anyway.”

Hermione nodded, watching Astoria in concern as the younger girl wiped her eyes again, “They threw us a little bit, I’ll be honest, but we decided that we’re stronger than a few grotty bits of parchment. Are you okay?” 

Astoria gulped and looked away before bursting into proper tears again. Daphne pulled her little sister into a hug and looked sadly back at Hermione. “It’s boy trouble. We’ll look after her, don't worry. And good for you, maybe the note writer will realize they're on the wrong track now. If they’re trying to split you up, that is. I see the Ravenclaw table isn’t looking too happy about the seating situation over here tonight.”

Hermione turned and spotted Marietta Edgecombe, Cho Chang, and another of their friends frowning at the mixed up tables in distaste. 

“Want me to hex anyone for you, Tori?” Theo asked conversationally while flashing a grin at the disapproving Ravenclaws.

`

“Yes, please!” Astoria said a little defensively as she glared in her sister’s direction. “but Daphne won’t let me ask you to!” Daphne rolled her eyes as she hushed Astoria, and Theo chuckled.

“Well, just give me the word, and I’ll be happy to oblige. I know a few good hexes if need be,” he said with a wink as he cheerfully dug into his treacle tart. Astoria smiled at his reassurance, finally pulling herself together as Daphne whispered soothingly into her ear.

  
  


* * *

“Thank you for cheering Tori up,” Daphne said as they let themselves into the eighth year common room half an hour later, “She likes you, Theo, and that meant a lot to her.”

“Who upset her in the first place?” Draco asked with a frown, “she’s practically family to us, as are you Daph, I don’t like seeing either of you upset. What happened?”

“Let’s just call it a case of unrequited love, shall we?” Daphne said with a dramatic sigh. “Plan A didn’t work, so she needs to move on to plan B now.”

“Oh,” Draco said, smiling sympathetically. “I didn’t know girls needed so many plans for a little dating.”

“Yes, it’s always good to have a backup plan. After all, it’s painful when the person you like doesn't want you in return.” Tracy said mildly while looking pointedly at Theo.

Theo hesitated, and Hermione tried to let go of his hand. She still felt somewhat guilty about the way he had unceremoniously dumped Tracy, even though logically she knew it wasn’t her fault. Theo looked sheepishly at Tracy as he gripped Hermione’s hand to stop her from pulling it away. “Yeah, uh, look, I’m sorry about that, Trace, it was rather, umm… insensitive of me. I’m sorry for the way I treated you.”

Tracy smiled at him as her blue eyes softened. “It’s all right. Thank you for the apology though, that means a lot. Anyway, I’m with Justin now, and he’s better suited to me than you are, so actually, you did me a favor.”

Theo grinned, clearly relieved to have been forgiven so easily. “Every cloud has a silver lining, I suppose,” he said, and Tracy just laughed as she and Daphne let themselves into the girl’s bedrooms. The door closed behind them, then Theo turned to stare at Draco in horror. “Wow! That was awkward!”

Draco just laughed, “well, you can't say it wasn’t thoroughly deserved, can you? You were an absolute git to her, Theo. It's about time she finally called you out on it!”

Theo looked contrite as they dropped their broomsticks off and left the common room again. By the time the door opened to the Room of Requirement, though, he was beginning to cheer up again. Pansy, Millie, Harry, and Ron had arrived before them and were already practicing. Draco blinked as Harry’s fully corporeal stag walked towards Hermione and lowered its head. She patted the insubstantial creature as best anyone could pat a wisp of smokey vapor, and they all watched as the stag pranced happily back to Harry.

Ron’s Jack Russel Terrier broke off from leaping around another, semi-transparent Patronus animal, raced over to greet them with its tail wagging madly and then turned around to rejoin what Hermione now recognized as a badger. “How long have you been in here?” Hermione asked, watching Pansy cast wisps of silver smoke into the air.

“Ten minutes or so,” Ron said. Hermione grinned as she watched the playful badger chase the equally happy terrier around the room.

“I learned to do this in class, though,” Millie said rather proudly, “so it’s not new for me. Snape taught us how to do it.”

“It’s a beautiful badger, Millie.” Theo pulled his wand out and sat down on one of the overstuffed bean-bags to watch the three Patronuses stalk around the room together. “I’ve never even cast a glimmer, in class or anywhere else.”

“Nor me,” Draco confirmed. “Although you should have been alright, Theo, it’s the Dark Marks that fucked Greg and me up for this charm, or so I thought. Can Blaise cast one?”

“Yes,” Pansy confirmed. “His is a panther.”

“That figures,” Draco nodded. “Right, come on then, Hermione, what do we need to do?” 

“Well, first, we need to take bets.” Theo said, and everyone looked at him curiously, “on what yours is going to be Malfoy. My money’s on a peacock with the amount of time you spend preening in front of a mirror-”

“You're an arse, Theo.” Draco grinned at him good naturedly, “at least some of us attempt to do our hair in the mornings and don’t just go for the disheveled bedhead look.”

“Watch your step, Malfoy!” Pansy laughed, narrowing her eyes, “I happen to like messy black hair. My money’s on it being a dragon anyway. Draco, Dragon, and all that.”

“Let’s give it a go and find out, shall we?” Hermione asked, watching as Pansy laughed again and a substantially larger amount of vapor shot out of the end of her wand. 

Hermione taught Draco and Theo the necessary wand movement, the incantation, and the best way to summon the happy memories needed to cast the charm, and then sat back to watch their first few attempts. Neither of them produced anything on the first few tries, and she could see Theo, in particular, starting to glare crossly at his wand. She opened her mouth to speak, but a sudden flash of brilliant silver on the other side of the room caught her attention instead. They looked up to see a large silver bird shoot out of the end of Pansy’s wand and fly around the room. 

“Well fuck!” Pansy shouted in surprise, making Harry laugh. The slightly insubstantial bird flew in a large circle and came in to land on long graceful legs. “What is it?” Pansy asked, peering at it more closely,

“I think, wait, It’s a flamingo Pans!” Harry said, standing up to hug her in delight. The flamingo turned its head then promptly fizzled back into wispy, formless mist again. 

“Wow!” Pansy grinned, flicking her wand to make the flamingo reappear. “That's incredible! I love it!!” as she bounced up and down in happiness, the flamingo shimmered, growing stronger until it was fully corporeal. It took off again, soaring around the room, showing itself off to anyone who wanted to see. “See Potter, I knew I wasn’t all bad and full of dark magic inside. Trying to sell you to the Dark Lord was an act of self preservation, not inherent evilness after all. What a relief!” 

“Uh…. yeah, isn’t it?” Harry just pulled a face and laughed as Ron spluttered incredulously. Harry conjured his stag into the room again, and the flamingo landed on it’s back. The stag threw up its head in apparent approval while everyone in the room looked on in surprise.

“What’s your stag called again?” Pansy asked.

“Prongs,” Harry said softly as Pansy smiled. 

“Well, Prongs, meet Beaky. Beaky, Prongs. You better learn to play nicely together now, no mucking around.” Hermione giggled as both the stag and the flamingo bowed their heads to her, and Harry laughed. “Come on then, Malfoy, let's see your try.” Draco flicked his  wand, but three times in a row, nothing happened, and he looked rather disheartened. “That's rubbish.” Pansy asserted. “What memory are you using?”

“That's private!” Theo protested as his own wand flashed feebly through the air. 

Pansy grinned, “I used the memory of the first time Harry and I…. you know…. it did the trick for me. Just saying.”

“Okay….” Draco looked at her speculatively, appearing to gather himself ready to try again. Still nothing happened. “Oh shit…. What?!” he asked, looking apprehensively at Theo, who had a wide and rather mischievous grin on his face.

“Expecto Patronum!” Theo shouted. A giant wisp of silver mist filled the air, then quickly faded to nothing as Draco’s eyebrows shot up.

Theo punched the air in triumph. “Come on, blondie, get up. We’ve got this,” he said excitedly, and Hermione grinned. Not wanting to be beaten, Draco stood up too, and with everyone watching anxiously, Theo cast his spell again. This time the see through silver wisp solidified slightly into a vague animal form, but it faded away before they could tell what it was. 

“Come on, Draco!” Pansy said, grinning enthusiastically as she tugged on his sleeve, “Come on! You and Hermione, think of your first time in those domes. Theo’s there too, whispering filthy thoughts in your ear. Ridiculously wanton things, things that make your toes curl. She wants you. You want her, Theo’s driving you both nuts, now cast the spell!” Draco did, and he blinked in surprise as a stream of ghostly silver smoke issued from his wand tip. 

Hermione stumbled as Pansy yanked her across to stand in front of Draco. “Look at her!” Pansy encouraged, bouncing up and down on her toes, “you’ve wanted her for years. Imagine it’s the Yule Ball. She’s on your arm instead of me. Granger, go ahead, kiss him!”

Hermione just stared into Draco’s molten silver eyes, and he gazed wordlessly back. Theo, Harry, Ron, and Millicent were all staring at them as the vapor continued to issue from Draco’s wand. He bowed his head slightly, placed one hand on Hermione’s cheek, and pressed his lips to hers. “Push this power into your wand,” Hermione whispered as she kissed him back. She could feel Draco drawing energy from her, and her magic flowed freely into him. Instinctively she reached out for Theo with her other hand, and when he reached her, she pulled him into their huddle. Theo put his arm on Draco so that all three of them were touching, then there was a flash of brilliant silver as something huge erupted from his wand.

Hermione gasped as an enormous silver thestral soared into the air and flew around the room much as the flamingo had done earlier. “Bloody hell, Malfoy!” Ron said, gazing at it in awe. Draco blinked, looking shocked by what he had done. 

Theo laughed. “It’s perfect, Malfoy. Only you could have a thestral, the creature that best bridges the dark and light, seriously mate. You amaze me at times!”

“Come on, Theo,” Draco said softly, turning to capture his lips with a kiss, “show us yours properly now.” 

“Expecto Patronum,” Theo said rather forcefully, and Hermione staggered as she felt another pull on her magic and the silver cloud reappeared at the end of Theo’s wand.

“Come on, Nott.” Draco’s eyes bored into Theo’s, and everyone in the room held their breath as the thestral continued to soar around, lighting up the room. “You’ve never gone down without a fight in your life. Don’t lose out to me now!” The brilliant light from the thestral reflected in Theo’s blue eyes as he narrowed them determinedly. A flicker of pure affection crossed Draco’s face as he leaned closer to Theo and spoke so that only he and Hermione could hear. “Think of your Mother,” Draco whispered. “Go on, I know it’s painful, but we’ve got you.”

Theo’s eyes slid to Hermione’s, and the shapeless cloud slowly solidified. Several gasps sounded from the other side of the room, but Hermione was unable to tear her gaze away from Theo’s to look. The image of a young woman formed strongly in her mind. A woman with tumbling chocolate curls and honey brown eyes. She was taller than Hermione, a little broader and curvier, but there was a striking similarity between Hermione herself and the woman in the image. Draco put a hand on both Hermione and Theo’s faces and gently turned them both to look to where the thestral stood. It was bowing down as a large lioness gently licked its skeletal head. 

The room was utterly silent for a full minute. “‘Mione?” Harry said finally, without taking his eyes off of the Patronuses, “cast yours.” 

“Expecto Patronun,'' she whispered, and the familiar otter burst from her wand tip as if it had been waiting for her to release it. It gamboled over to the two enormous silver creatures and bounced around their legs, looking as if it was delighted to be reunited with old friends. 

The scene was spellbinding. The lioness pressed her head into the otter and the thestral. The thestral stood tall, occasionally flicking its sparse tail. The otter bounced and frolicked playfully between all eight silvery legs. 

Theo dropped his spell first, the lioness faded, and he looked at Hermione as if in shock. Draco also looked stunned as his thestral faded and Hermione's otter disappeared as well, plunging the room into comparative darkness. “I’m going out for a cigarette,” Theo announced rather shakily, and he stalked away without another word. Draco turned and silently followed him, leaving Hermione staring at the others in confusion. 

“Follow them!” Millie said, waving her hand frantically to encourage Hermione away, “you can’t let them go after that!”

“What….. What was…. that?” Harry asked, sounding amazed as Hermione didn’t move.

“That was a fucking miracle!” Pansy said, wiping away a tear, “that’s what that was. No wonder he’s emotional. Theo’s mother was a Gryffindor.” Pansy explained. “She looked a lot like Hermione, and Theo had no idea what form his Patronus would take. I’ve seen him try and fail to cast that charm a million times, by the way. So, the first time he succeeds in casting it is when he’s drawing from Hermione’s magical power, and his Patronus just happens to be a lioness.” 

Millie nodded in agreement. “He’s a Death Eater’s son who avoided taking the Dark Mark by the skin of his teeth. He thought his magical core was too dark to produce a Patronus, and then that pops out. Now, bloody well go after them, Hermione, they’ll be behind the herbology greenhouse. Go!”

Hermione nodded, turning and leaving the room of requirement at a run. 

  
  



	9. The Beauty of Unicorn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi…….. Is anyone still there? I’m soooooo sorry that this update is like, three weeks late. Life seems to have conspired against me at the moment and that huge deadline I mentioned was looming and seriously cutting into the time I had to write for this story. 
> 
> The good news is that all of that is finished now, and this story is back to being my number one focus!
> 
> The next update will be out Saturday. 
> 
> Thank you so, so, so much to champagneandliterature for bearing with me and always being there when I need her. 
> 
> Without further ado then, here we are!

Hermione’s hopes of finding the unicorn in the Forbidden Forest with Theo and Draco had to be put on hold for a few days due to bad weather. Tuesday morning dawned dismal, grey, and cold, and it stayed that way for most of the week. The mountains surrounding Hogwarts disappeared, blocked from view by the clouds that hung low in the sky, and the mist that obscured the forest never entirely cleared, making it unsafe to venture inside. 

Finally, there was a break in the constant drizzle late on Thursday afternoon. Hermione was humming happily to herself as she changed out of her school uniform in the Gryffindor girl’s dorms when a flash of brilliant silver suddenly brightened the room. 

She laughed and couldn’t resist an affectionate eye roll as Theo’s lioness Patronus stalked regally towards her. Now that he could cast one, Theo was letting no chance to use it pass him by. It reminded Hermione of the time Fred and George had passed their Apparition tests and had chosen to apparate every time they moved at the Burrow, and Molly had spent all summer telling them off.

“Grab a jumper witch. We’re going unicorn spotting.” It was funny to hear the graceful and rather feminine Patronus speak with Theo’s deep, very male voice.

She grinned and cast her own otter into the room, then bent low to speak to it. The reply she received was fast. She had just zipped up her jeans and was regathering her always wild hair when Draco’s noble silver thestral stalked through the door without breaking its stride. “Apparently I’m to tell you that Arithmancy essays can wait. today’s lesson is Care of Magical Creatures.”

Hermione laughed as the thestral faded away, and Ron’s Jack Russel terrier bounded into the room in its place to chase her up.

“Alright! I’m coming!” She giggled as she pulled on her jacket and stepped out into the common room. She frowned as a sudden and unreasonable pang of jealousy assaulted her at the sight of Theo talking to Daphne and Tracy while he waited for her. She averted her eyes from his knee, which was almost brushing against Daphne’s, and focused instead on the way his eyes lit up when he saw her. 

“Hello, beautiful.” His passionate kiss left her in no doubt of where his loyalties lay, and she pushed her irrational feelings aside. 

“Hi.”

“Ready then?” Draco shouldered his firebolt as she looked around. Ron and Millie seemed to be coming with them, as were Luna and Parvarti. 

Hermione nodded, following the others out of the castle and into the cool but sunny afternoon. “I think the unicorns will be on the far side of Birch Copse. What do you think, Luna?” Theo asked.

“I agree, it’s a good place to start,” Luna confirmed, swinging her leg over Parvarti’s broom. “If we don’t find them there, we can check Faery Holt and Darkwood like we usually do.”

“Perfect. Come on then, you.” Theo patted Hermione’s arm, and she startled. She hadn’t realized that Theo and Luna had been into the forest together before, but now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense that they had. They both liked magical creatures and the same school subjects, or so it seemed. 

“What's going on under all that hair?” Theo asked, settling himself comfortably onto the broom behind her, “I can hear you thinking from here.” 

“Nothing.” She nuzzled her neck into his lips as he kissed the side of her neck. Broom kisses were fast becoming a favorite of hers. “I just didn't know you and Luna were friends, and I feel like I should have known that. The last few weeks have been such a whirlwind, and sometimes I feel like I know more about you than I actually do.”

Theo nodded as he kicked off gently. “Luna and I have been friends for years, not overly obvious ones, I suppose, but we both love being out here in the forest and looking for the creatures it holds. Who do you think persuaded her to play this mad Cupid game in the first place?  _ And _ to sign up for a female partner?”

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “That was you?” 

He nodded. “Yep. She was nervous about revealing her sexuality. I told her I'd curse anyone who gave her a hard time, and then she just went for it. I don’t know Parvati, but she seems nice, and they look happy together.”

Hermione smiled as she turned to return his kiss. “Well, thank you for looking out for her. I appreciate that, and I love that you did that for her in the first place. Parvati’s nice. I think they work well together.”

“I think Parvarti might be struggling a bit at the moment,” Theo chuckled, and Hermione gasped at the now familiar sight of Luna hanging precariously off the side of Parvati’s broom, scanning the trees below.

“Under there, Draco, can you swoop in through the trees without getting-” Theo broke off as Draco dipped low under the tree canopy and back out again, “-apparently you can. Bloody showoff!”

“Nothing there,” Draco grinned as he pulled up into a cartwheel.

“Here!” Luna called, pointing to a different copse, and Draco again dipped out of sight. He came up again, shaking his head and removing a few stray twigs from his hair as Theo laughed. 

“What’s this over here?” Ron asked from behind them, and Hermione turned her head in the direction of Milli’s answering squeal. “Oi, mate, come and look. They’re over here.”

Theo banked round to see where Ron was pointing. He slowed to a hover and pressed his cheek against Hermione’s. “That’s the spot.” 

The unicorns were already alert. Their ears were pricked, and their heads were held high as Theo smoothly dropped the broom handle. Draco landed steadily beside them and they all froze as one of the unicorns tossed its pure white head and snorted delicately. The herd moved off slightly as everyone else landed, and Luna held her hand up to signal everyone to stop moving. 

Hermione did, and she also sank to the ground as Luna bid. The unicorns gradually relaxed again, slowly returning to the patch of grass they had been grazing on before they were interrupted. Hermione held her breath as she watched the powerful creatures, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. “Have you ever seen these close up before?” Luna whispered.

Parvarti shook her head, “Only that one Professor Grubbly Plank brought to class once, and that was a tame one,” she admitted.

“Hagrid can’t get near these,” Luna confessed, “that's why he can't use them in class. I like Hagrid very much, but he’s large, he’s very indelicate, and he just doesn’t understand the subtleties that the unicorns like.”

“He also doesn't appreciate them because they don’t breathe fire or explode in your face when they move,” Ron grumbled, and Millie chuckled. 

Hermione said nothing but secretly thought Ron had a good point. When the unicorn herd was settled again, Luna slowly stood up and edged closer to them. She kept her eyes downcast, being careful not to look any of them in the eye. 

As soon as the closest unicorn looked at her, Luna paused then backed up a step. “Watch this,” Theo whispered to the others, “it takes a minute or two, but just wait till you see what she can do.”

Luna had the closest unicorn’s undivided attention. Luna turned herself, angling her shoulders away from it, and waited. “That’s the lead mare of the herd,” Theo whispered. 

The unicorn stretched out her graceful neck, and when she pulled away and snorted, Luna took another slow step towards her. It was as if they were engaged in a dance. Luna would step forwards and wait, the unicorn would pause and then make its move, and Luna would step back in reply. As Hermione watched, the unicorn was, little by little, drawing closer to Luna. Finally, they were mere feet apart, and it was as if they were slowly drawn together by a delicate thread.

Hermione held her breath as the unicorn stretched out her head, and as Luna turned away, the magical creature bumped her on the shoulder with her nose. Luna stilled and very slowly turned around. She kept her eyes downcast and smoothly reached out her hand. The unicorn snorted and pulled back, but Luna didn’t move. Gradually the unicorn moved back into place and finally lowered her head to accept Luna’s caress.

The unicorn enjoyed Luna’s attention for several minutes until Luna reached behind her, gesturing to Parvati to step forward. Parvati stood up, and, under Luna’s instruction, she also managed to stroke the completely wild unicorn. When she turned away, and Milli took her place, tears were rolling freely down Parvati’s face. 

“You need to pet her Hermione,” Parvati said, still looking awestruck, “she’s so beautiful.”

Hermione doubted that she would be able to do what Parvati and now Millie were doing. She had never been particularly good with wild creatures. Still, Draco nudged her forward as Millie stepped back and slowly, incredibly, as Luna taught her how, Hermione found herself stroking a unicorn.

The unicorn’s white hair was softer than silk. Hermione's fingers tingled as she stroked the creature's bowed head, and she was filled with the most wonderful sense of tranquility. She could have stood there for days simply enjoying the calm aura the unicorn projected. 

All too soon, though, Luna gestured to Ron to take her place, and Hermione stepped back to watch. Theo nudged Draco forwards once Ron had taken his turn, and Draco slowly did as Luna instructed. When he stretched out his right hand, though, Luna smoothly pushed it down and picked up his other one. 

She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she watched as Luna pushed up  Draco’s sleeve. She held her hands on either side of his Dark Mark and continued to hold his arm in hers, offering it out to the unicorn. Hermione watched in amazement as the unicorn dropped her head and blew her breath all over Draco’s arm. She could see Draco looking alarmed, he clearly wanted to pull away, but Luna held him firm. 

“What in the name of?” Hermione jumped as Theo reached for her hand and gripped it tightly, “Why the hell didn't I think of doing that?”

“What's she doing?” Hermione asked.

“Healing it,” Theo breathed. “Something as pure as a unicorn can negate some of the hatred the mark was branded with. I should have thought of this years ago!”

When the unicorn finally pulled her muzzle away, Draco stepped back, looking shell shocked. He sank down to the ground and gazed wordlessly at Hermione as Theo stood up and threw him a wink. Luna turned away, leaving Theo to step up to the unicorn alone, and the pair greeted each other like old friends. When the unicorn was finished with being sociable, she just turned and loped gracefully away, flicking her tail and disappearing with the rest of the herd into the impenetrable barrier of trees. 

  
  


* * *

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Draco said as he emerged from the bathroom later that evening, “look at this!” Hermione broke the kiss she was sharing with Theo and looked up from the bed as Draco brandished his left forearm at them both. 

Theo simply lifted an eyebrow in question, but Hermione’s cheeks heated as she stared shamelessly. Since Draco was still damp from the shower and was clad only in a low slung towel, his left forearm was not the thing that was attracting her attention the most.

“Look at what?” Theo asked, attempting an innocent tone as he exchanged an amused glance with Hermione. 

“This,” Draco held out his forearm again.

Theo frowned at it in confusion, “mate, you’re normally trying to hide that away, now you're openly wafting it in front of us! What are we meant to be looking at anyway?!”

“Quit being a smartass and look at it properly. Don’t just look at it. Press it. Go on. I dare you.”

Theo grinned lazily up at him, “Really, Draco?” he drawled, “you think daring me to do something is a good idea?”

Draco just shrugged, tossed Theo his wand, and continued to hold out his arm. “I’ve done it.”

Theo rolled over on the bed, now staring at Draco in obvious confusion. Slowly, he picked up his wand and touched it to the faded Dark Mark. “Morsmordre,” he whispered, and Hermione startled as Draco just grinned.

“There’s no reaction in it now. No reaction to that spell at all. Not even a tingle. This bloody thing has randomly tingled, burnt, itched, niggled, and generally been a pain in the arse for nearly five years. After that unicorn healed it earlier, there's nothing. Not even when you cast Morsmordre over it.”

Theo grinned. “That’s amazing. I’m really pleased for you. Now, will you please drop that towel? because I’m much more interested in what’s underneath it.” Draco released the breath he had been holding and nodded. “It might even take Hermione’s mind off of the Arithmancy essay that she  _ still  _ hasn’t finished yet.”

“I should go and finish it now!” Hermione muttered, ignoring Theo’s teasing and his scandalized look.

“Off you go then, sweetheart. Draco and I will just play together, you know, on our own, without you.”

That’s not fair,” she grumbled, having absolutely no intention of moving. 

“You can copy my essay. I’ve already done it. We’ll just make a few changes, I don’t care,” Draco said, inching his towel lower and smiling at the reaction the move pulled from her.

“I’m not copying your work Draco Malfoy!” she exclaimed furiously as her brain caught up with what he had just said. “I’m perfectly capable of finishing the essay tomorrow. I just don’t usually leave things to the last minute like this, that’s all.”

“Relax, beautiful,” Theo whispered as he kissed her neck again, “there’s plenty of time to get it finished tomorrow.”

“Assuming we don’t distract you again,” Draco tousled his wet hair with his fingers and stared at her through his slightly too long fringe, grinning as she shivered in response.

“You two are a terrible influence,” Draco smirked as he leaned down to kiss her, and she groaned softly in response.

“Yep,” Theo agreed cheerfully as Draco released her, and he turned her face to claim her lips for himself, “but we can see you love it. Lay down, baby, and let me show you exactly…. how…. bad…. an influence I can be.”

Hermione smiled and did as he asked. “Do you know what a safeword is, Hermione?” Draco asked from the side of the bed. She nodded. She did now anyway, following another rather enlightening chat with Ginny.

“Good. So tonight, if you’re up for it, we’re going to play a little game. For now, we’ll start with color words, and I’ll check in with you plenty of times to make sure you’re okay with what we’re doing,” he reached down and started to unbutton her blouse as he spoke slowly. “Assuming you’re open to that idea, of course.”

Her breath caught in her throat, and her thighs clenched against a powerful wave of arousal. “ _ Are  _ you open to the idea, beautiful?” Theo asked as he stroked her flushed cheek with the back of his fingers, “we don’t mind in the slightest if you’re not.”

Breathlessly she nodded, already struggling to form sensible words. “I’m very open to that idea. In fact, the mere mention of it turned on so much I could barely speak for a moment,” she admitted with a deep blush. 

“Good girl.” Draco paused with his fingers on a button and stared at her reverently. “So, green means you're happy with what we’re doing. Yellow tells us to be careful and slow things down, and if you say red, then we stop everything immediately. How does that sound?” He undid the last of her buttons, and his pupils dilated further as he opened her blouse, revealing a dark green, lacy bra. “Nice underwear.” She nodded on an unsteady breath as Draco glanced over to Theo. “How about you then, handsome? Can you cope with me being in charge tonight?”

“Oh fuck yes!” Theo whispered as Draco raised an eyebrow in amusement. “For a while anyway.”

“Only for a while?” Draco eyed him with outright passion as he leaned down to kiss him. “What are you so scared of that you can’t give me the whole night?”

“You wouldn’t last the whole night. You’d be begging me to get on top after a while, and you know it,” Theo chuckled, reaching out to grab Draco by his towel and tug him closer. “See? Look at that,” Theo said as the towel fell to the floor, “your rock hard and twitching at even the thought of me bossing you around. You're the right height for me to do this, too.” He leaned forwards, ran one hand over Draco’s weeping cock, and sucked him straight into his mouth. Hermione whimpered as Theo’s head bobbed a handful of times, and Draco growled as he fisted his hands into Theo’s messy hair.

“You’re terrible at being told what to do,” Draco said through gritted teeth.

Theo just nodded, his mouth too full to do anything else. He pulled up and off of Draco, leaving him panting with desire, and grinned sideways at Hermione, “Bet you’re not though, are you darling.”

“No,” she admitted as her arousal escalated to uncomfortable levels, “I think I might be quite good at that. 

Draco smiled as he opened the drawer beside his bed and pulled out several items. Among them, she recognized the silk tie and the blindfold that Draco had picked out from the table of goodies in the Cupid game a couple of Sundays ago. “Do you now?”

Hermione watched him gently finger the silk tie as he fixed her with an appraising look. Theo slid her blouse over her shoulders. She lifted off the bed to let him move it down and off her arms. “How do you feel about being tied up, beautiful?”

A rush of heat to her core caused her answer to come out as a breathy sign. Draco nodded in satisfaction, picked up one of her wrists, and kissed the inside of it gently. He flicked his tongue against her pulse point, holding her eyes as she shivered in response. He clicked his fingers, and the tie replicated itself. He threw the new piece of black silk to Theo and started to wrap the remaining one securely around her wrist. 

She closed her eyes, losing herself to the moment as Theo replicated Draco’s attentions on her other wrist. “Oh Gods!” she muttered as he nipped her skin gently, “that feels so good.”

Hermione’s eyes snapped open as Theo bound her second wrist and passed it to Draco. He moved both of her hands up over her head, then laced them together securely. She shivered as she felt a charm pass over the bindings and another over her belly. She recognised the second one as the now familiar contraception spell, but was confused by the first. “This spell makes the bindings release magically the moment someone utters the safeword.” Draco explained.

She nodded as she gazed up into his eyes, trusting him completely. She dragged her gaze across to look at Theo and jolted at the intensity showing in his own blue eyes. “You look so beautiful tied up like that,” he whispered, and she smiled, “you’re like a picture straight out of my personal book of fantasies. Color?”

“Green.” 

Draco ran his fingers over the lace of her bra, and she shuddered, clenching her fingers and bunching up the bedsheets in response to his touch. “Good girl.” He trailed his hands down her body and unzipped her jeans, then slid them down and off her legs, leaving her in just her matching underwear set.

Theo scratched his fingernails lightly over her belly, watching her as she shivered yet again in response. “What are you going to do with her now, Draco?” he asked, and her eyes snapped back to Dracos. 

Draco’s slow smile lit up his handsome face as he raised a testing eyebrow, “so, so many things,” he promised and leaned down to kiss her. “How do you feel about blindfolds love?” he asked.

She paused, considering. “I don’t know. Try me. If I don’t like it, I’ll tell you.”

Draco’s smile intensified as he slipped the blindfold snugly over her face. It magically molded until it fit her perfectly, and she was startled to find herself completely blind. Even the light in the room was blocked out. “Color?” Draco asked, and she paused before answering to give herself time to adjust to the loss of her primary sense.

It felt… she hunted around for the right adjective to describe her feelings. It was a little disconcerting, but mostly it was exciting. She wanted to experience this, and she trusted both of the boys to take care of her. “Green,” she said. 

“Good girl.” Theo’s voice was so low she could barely hear it. She jumped as she felt Draco kiss her navel. He drew little circles around her belly button with his tongue, then blew a stream of cool air over the sensitized skin. 

With her vision obscured, her other senses felt heightened, and she jumped again as she felt what she presumed were Theo’s fingers touch her sides, move down to just above her panties, and then back up again. She tugged experimentally against the bindings on her wrists, but they held firm. She was trapped and helpless under both Draco and Theo’s ministrations, and a heady thrill shot through her as Draco leaned in to kiss her.

She smiled against his gentle lips and bent her knees to push up and into him. She wanted more. Her body was already wound tightly just from the predicament she found herself in, and she wanted to find release. She moaned into Draco’s mouth as he finally lowered himself down on top of her and kissed her hungrily. She writhed in response, pulling again on the wrist restraints. “Color?” Draco asked as he paused, evidently in concern.

“Still green, I’ll tell you if it changes, you can stop asking,” she said breathlessly as Theo gave a pained chuckle. That seemed to be all the encouragement Draco needed as well. With her sight blocked, all she could do was feel as he reached underneath her. She lifted up off the bed to let him unhook her bra, then felt it slide up over her head and pool around the silk tie that still bound her wrists together. 

Draco’s hands roved across her naked breasts, stroking, squeezing, and coaxing increasingly wanton whimpers from her. He moved down her body and tongued, then sucked sharply at her nipple before soothing the sting with a soft lick of his tongue. 

She felt him kiss his way lower down her body and pause to slide her panties off, leaving her naked save for the blindfold and the black silk wrist restraints. Draco disappeared briefly, presumably to dispose of her panties, then he returned, playing once more with her nipples and chuckling as she writhed desperately under his skilled touch. 

She lifted her hips, inviting him to touch her where she wanted him most. Her core was aching with need. She was slick and ready, clenching almost painfully on nothing. “Are you alright still?” he asked, and she nodded breathlessly, willing him to touch her again. 

“If you want something Hermione,” Theo’s voice sounded from the corner of the vast bed, “You can always ask for it.”

She gasped as Draco’s hand brushed across her thigh. High but not nearly high enough. She could ask for it. She knew that, but she’d never done that before. “touch me, Draco? Please?” she whispered, and she felt his fingers touch her stomach infuriatingly. “Lower,” she sighed as he inched his hand fractionally lower. 

“Specifics, Hermione,” Theo said, sounding amused. 

Draco’s fingers brushed across her skin again, and she squirmed. “You know what I want.”

“I have an idea,” Draco whispered, “do you want me to suggest something, and then you can tell me if I'm right? Or not.”

She did want that. Oh God, did she want that. “Yes, please.”

Theo’s answering laugh was pure sin as Draco dipped his head, parted her thighs and swiped his tongue directly through her folds. “How dirty would you like me to be?” he asked as he pulled away.

Her answer came out in a moan, “Very.”

“You’re soaking down here, love,” he murmered, making her cry out as he licked her once more. “What’s made you so wet, Hermione?”

“You. You touching me, kissing me. Me not being able to move or see you, the thought of Theo watching us, I like this a lot.” She gasped as Draco lazily kissed her nipple. 

“You like not knowing what I'm going to do?” she could feel him moving to the side of her on the bed as if to demonstrate that she had no idea what he was up to. She nodded. The bed dipped beside her again, and she gasped as she heard what had to be him and Theo kissing. 

Draco moved back into place over her. “Do you like not knowing which one of us is kissing you?” she flexed her hips, lifting off the bed and arching towards him, then jumped as a hand smacked her thigh sharply.

“Keep still.” Theo’s voice was low and commanding, and she gasped as she felt his lips start to kiss her abdomen, then slowly creep lower.

“I thought you were Draco,” she admitted as Theo slipped lower still.

“Oh no, baby girl, you’ve got me now. Draco’s beside you.”

“Shall I tell Theo how I want him to make you come?” 

“Oh, my Gods yes!” she said, yelping as Theo’s tongue slipped closer to where she wanted it. The mounting need for release was becoming almost unbearable. She tugged her  wrists again and couldn't help but lift her hips as Theo’s tongue  _ finally _ dipped to where she wanted it, 

“How does she taste?” Draco asked, and she felt Theo’s mouth pause,

“Sweet. So fucking sweet. She’s like nectar. And she’s dripping for you, Draco. Or for me, maybe for both of us, I can't tell.”

“Both… it’s for both of … you!” Hermione panted.

“Use your fingers as well,” Draco said, his voice sounding slightly pained as Theo dipped his head back down. 

It felt like heaven as Theo inched his fingers inside her. He moved gently the first time, waiting for her to relax as he stretched her. “So fucking tight, so beautiful and innocent,” he whispered, kissing her again as he slid his fingers back out. 

The second time was different. He thrust his digits in much more sharply, but she was so turned on that they slid inside easily anyway. He curled his middle finger against her back wall with firm pressure, making her thrash on the bed as sparks burst behind her eyelids. “Is she allowed to come, Draco?” he asked as he pressed a fraction harder.

Hermione didn't think she could stop herself if he said no. She had no idea how to even try, she was so close, and Theo’s skillful fingers were edging her closer and closer to the point of no return, “No.” Draco said, and she gasped. Theo pressed down sharply, and she half leaped off the bed in shock. “And if she comes without permission, you get to spank her arse.”

She felt Theo twitch his fingers involuntarily inside her, and his voice spoke close to her ear. “Safeword color, Hermione?”

“Wha?” she was almost incoherent with need. For a moment, she couldn’t register why he was talking about colors. His fingers had stilled inside her, and she thrashed her hips vigorously, so close to the edge it was painful. 

Theo pulled his fingers out slightly and thrust them sharply back in. “Color, Hermione. We’re pushing you here, and I need to know if you’re okay with it, baby girl.” 

Theo’s words finally made it through to her addled brain, and she nodded, “Green!” she gasped. 

Theo pressed his fingers against her G spot once more. “Just a tiny bit more then, beautiful. I know you can hold back.” Hermione screwed her eyes shut, concentrating everything she had on holding her body in check, and she finally sighed with relief as Theo removed his fingers. She missed them instantly. Her insides were still clenching desperately, her arousal was painful, and she needed something inside of her. She had never felt anything close to the intensity of this before. 

“Good girl,” Draco said deliberately, and she pulled once more against her bindings. 

As she calmed a fraction, she felt Theo’s body settle in above her. He leaned down and kissed her softly. She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him close and silently begging him to enter her. “I think you deserve a little reward,” Draco said, “I’m going to tell Theo he can fuck you now, Hermione. Is that what you want?” 

“Yes!” her voice was a strangled cry once more as Theo moved into position. 

“Do you want it gentle and slow, or hard and fast?” Draco asked, and he laughed at her answer. “Hard and fast it is then.”

Hermione felt Theo line himself up and nudge the tip of his cock against her slick entrance. “Now,” Draco breathed, and she squealed as Theo pressed smoothly inside. 

It barely took two of his thrusts for her to come. “Keep going. She can do that again.” Draco demanded, and Theo groaned as he snapped his hips and buried himself deeply inside of her. Hermione barely had time to come down from her first orgasm before Theo was pushing her higher again, faster than she’d thought possible. 

Theo set a powerful pace. She lifted her hips to give him better access as he slammed into her and he groaned in response. “Come for us Hermione,” Draco said, “come again, let Theo feel that sweet, tight little cunt clenching around his cock again. Come. Now.”

Theo squeezed her nipple between his finger and thumb, and she detonated once more. She felt the impossibly deep thrusts that told her Theo had fallen over the abyss with her, and she lifted her hips to meet him until he finally sank down on top of her. 

She felt the blindfold and the wrist bindings vanish, and she blinked dazed and confused eyes, looking sideways to see Draco staring at her in wonder. “You. Are. Spectacular,” he said as Theo picked himself up, kissed her softly, and rolled to the side of her. 

“Tell me, though,” Theo stroked her damp hair gently back from her face then pulled her into his embrace, “I nearly tipped you over the edge when Draco told you not to come. That last squeeze of my fingers was further than I meant to push you. Were you okay with that?”

She knew her eyes were still glazed as she stared up at him and nodded. “Would you really have spanked me if I had come?”

Theo grinned, “If you’d wanted me to. Would you have wanted me to?”

“I think I would. I think I’d like to know what that would feel like.” 

“Didn’t I tell you she’s perfect?” Draco asked, laying down on the bed beside them both.

“You did. And, while we’re on the subject of hidden talents, where the fuck did all that come from with you? I never knew you could take charge like that, and it was such a turn on!”

Draco just smiled. “It turns out that with the right people beside me, I can do it quite easily. Anyway, I could ask you the same thing.” You’ve never let me go that far before either.”

Theo chuckled. “Well, it won’t be the last time I do, that's for sure.” He patted Hermione’s thigh, “How about that then love, was any of it too much?”

Hermione just shook her head weakly. “Nope. I’m hoping that was just the start of things.”

Theo just groaned, then his eyes lit up, and he grinned. “Oh baby, there’s a whole world of things we can try if you liked this. If you only knew. Hop up and sit on Draco’s cock will you then, love? He’s looking a bit neglected over there, and we can’t have that now, can we?”


End file.
